MONTEJO. “Local technology works.”
Science Secretary Mario Montejo believes that the use of science and technology is a sound business model for development. His motto, “Local technology works,” affirms his belief and confidence in the creativity of Filipinos.
Under his leadership, the Department of Science and Technology has embarked on initiatives that offer solutions to national problems—like trapping dengue mosquitoes, its project with the Department of Health. There were 37,895 Filipinos stricken with dengue from Jan. 1 to May 25 this year.
Transmitted via mosquito bites, dengue results in rashes and high fever. This month, the DOH has awarded Barangay 377 of Manila as the first dengue-free barangay in the National Capital region. For a barangay to be declared dengue-free, it must not have a single dengue case within the year.
Alert status
To achieve this, Secretary Montejo distributed mosquito traps to public schools all over the country, then set up a web-based system to monitor mosquito population. This will be monitored by the DOST’s dengue-alert website, https://oltrap.pchrd.dost.gov.ph, which will be integrated with Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) to provide location-specific information on weather and flood, as well as dengue-alert status.
Montejo has great faith in the ingenuity of our scientific community in coming up with better solutions for the dengue scourge. The traps developed by DOST’s Industrial Technology Institute comprise a kit of a black container, lawanit paddle (where mosquitoes lay their eggs), and a pack of pellets used to make a solution that kills eggs and larvae!
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