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IN A BID to fight dengue , the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is distributing some 435,000 Ovicidal-Larvicidal Traps or OL Traps to all public elementary and secondary schools nationwide before the rainy season comes.
“DOST will provide OL Trap kits to every public school classroom all
over the country,” DOST Secretary Mario Montejo said. “OL Traps prevent the larvae
from maturing into dengue-carrying mosquitoes, thus we aim to contain and
reduce the spread of the disease in places where mosquitoes congregate and
breed during daytime, like classrooms."
The OL Trap is a simple technology that kills the eggs and larvae of
the female Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries the dengue virus. The black
container attracts mosquitoes to lay their eggs on the lawanit strip soaked
with the OL pellet-water solution. The OL pellets, made of organic and
non-toxic material, attract mosquitoes and kill their young, in effect reducing
the number of the next generation of mosquitoes.
DOST’s school-based OL Trap program intends to reduce the number of
mosquito population in schools and communities, and subsequently lower dengue
incidents, through the use of the OL Trap.
“In this program, DOST works very closely with the health, education,
and local government departments,” informed Sec. Montejo. “Each agency has a
very important role in the program to significantly reduce the number of dengue
cases among our school children.”
The program has identified 31 priority areas that will receive the
first batch of OL Traps totaling some 435,000 kits nationwide. DOST produced the initial batch of traps and
has transferred the production of OL pellets to a private entrepreneur.
DOST, through its National Capital Region office, has also began
training teachers who will serve
as OL Trap coordinators. Said coordinators learn the procedures of using
the OL Trap and preparing monitoring reports. They also learn more about dengue
and other anti-dengue initiatives of the government.
“It’s not rocket science,” said Department of Education Undersecretary
Jesus Lorenzo Mateo. “The OL Trap is a very simple technology but is effective
in helping decrease dengue cases among schoolchildren.“
“We are happy that DOST and the Department of Health is partnering with
DepEd in this project,” Mateo added.