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by Bharatha Malawaraarachchi

Dengue epidemic has raised its ugly head again and claimed nearly 30 lives so far during this year.

Health authorities attributed the outbreak to the change in the weather pattern and the carelessness of the people to keep the surroundings in their work places and homes clean. The situation has aggrvated with the monsoon rains, officials say. Nearly 3800 suspected cases have been reported during this year.

Already, a number of schoolchildren succumbed to the dengue epidemic and one or two leading schools in the city were temporarily closed for cleaning as there were ample places for mosquito breeding. " Many other schools in the city have been issued with notices to clean their environs within seven days," a senior health official told the Daily News.

Health officials have warned that many leading schools in the City were having mosquito breeding centres as school authorities are not concerned about ensuring a clean surrounding in their schools. Construction sites, uncompleted buildings, drains and ponds in schools have become mosquito breeding places.

According to reports, the highest number of dengue cases are reported from Western province specially from Colombo and Gampaha - with the Maharagama area ranking with the highest cases.

Health authorities are planning to launch a special program to counter the dengue epidemic in high risk areas such as Maharagama, Dehiwala and Moratuwa, where houses will be inspected every week.

Health officials urge the public to keep their environment clean and destroy mosquito breeding places such as used tyres in order to the arrest the spreading of Dengue. They stressed that active participation of the public is a prerequisite to control this disease and request to maintain their office, school and other public premises clean. The Colombo Municipal Health section has so far issued around 400 notices to Government and private institutions and houses, warning them to clean their surroundings within seven days.

Municipal's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam warned that stern legal action will follow unless they adhere to the CMC's instructions. Those notices were issued during the last few weeks, under the Mosquito Borne Diseases Regulations. The Municipal health officials have already taken legal action against 50 such places in the Colombo city.

A Special Inspection Unit comprising medical officers now carries out sudden inspections on schools and other institutions in the city. The unit comprises Medical Officers from the Health Ministry and the Colombo Municipal Council, Public Health

Inspectors and officials from the Education Ministry. Health authorities have focused attention towards declaring a "Dengue Day" to mobilise citizens for cleaning up mosquito breeding places to ensure a clean environment. Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has paid attention to bring in tough legislation to combat this epidemic. Ministry official are now considering to amend the existing regulations in this respect.

The authorities repeatedly urge the public to assist them in their endeavour to combat dengue by keeping the environment clean and taking measures to eradicate mosquito breeding grounds.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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