The health ministry's own officials concede the system is close to collapse. The coronavirus pandemic was run through army task forces under a serving general, quarantine was enforced by troops, and public health became another theatre of command. But much has changed since the last great dengue outbreak in 2017. The economic collapse of 2022 hollowed out the public health service, as medicines ran short and stocks were never fully replenished. Less than two years in, its soldiers are in the streets on civilian duties as the healthcare system teeters on the brink of collapse.