DOH intensifies anti-dengue campaign thru info strategies

By Robert E. Roperos

Tuesday 10th of July 2012

BUTUAN CITY, July 10 (PIA) -- The Department of Health (DOH) is intensifying its campaign against dengue by tapping the communication support of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), the government’s information arm.

This was developed after the consultative workshop conducted in Metro Manila regarding the implementation of DOH’s nationwide anti-dengue campaign where the latter requested PIA to help its campaign by using of the agency’s two electronic communication channels - the inbox news and text blast operation.

PIA Director General Jose A. Fabia, in a memorandum sent to PIA regional offices nationwide, directed the regional directors and officers-in-charge of the 16 regions to add and/or complete the directory of PIA inbox news and text blast recipients.

Fabia reiterated that in order to be successful in this campaign, all barangay dengue warriors and barangay health workers in the country must be included as recipients.

The PIA chief also directed concerned officials of the agency to group their database per barangay or community for easier and more convenient text blasting of information to concerned areas during the implementation of anti-dengue communication activities in their respective areas of responsibilities.

Fabia said the text blasting per barangay is being pilot-tested in Regions 3 and in the National Capital Region (NCR) for two weeks, after which an assessment of the text blast activity will be done to identify gaps before it will be implemented in regions and provinces in the country.

Inbox news are electronic news magazines produced by four major clusters of the agency such as the iStar of the Southern Luzon Cluster, One Luzon of the Northern Luzon Cluster, One Visayas for the Visayas Cluster, and the pioneering e-news magazine of the agency, One Mindanao.

Among the recipients sectors regularly receiving news from the agency are the local tri-media, local government units, national government agencies, government-owned and -controlled corporations, government financing institutions, military, police, religious, academe, judiciaries, business, labor, agri-workers, non-government organizations, and civic organizations. (RER-PIA 13 Caraga)