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Anti-dengue campaign: On the spot fines, latest deterrent

by Bharatha Malawaraarachchi

On the spot fines is the latest deterrent to be introduced by the Health Ministry to punish those who contribute to the breeding of dengue mosquitoes.

This is one of the new features to be included among the tough laws which will be introduced by the Health Ministry to combat the spreading of dengue and other mosquito borne diseases in the country.

Other features include the increase of existing fines on offenders, a senior Ministry official told the Daily News.

He said, a Cabinet paper in this respect is to be submitted in the next few weeks. "Once the policy approval is granted work will commence on preparing new regulations replacing the old ones and then submitted to Parliament." added the official. A sperate committee led by another senior Ministry official has also been appointed in this respect.

The Ministry's decision to bring tough laws came in the wake of a sudden increase in dengue cases during the last two months, which claimed 30 lives. Senior epidemiologist Dr. T. A. Kulathilake stressed that although the dengue is now on the wane, people have to be more concerned about keeping their surroundings clean.

"We have now sent a circular instructing MOHs and Provincial Directors to continue the cleaning up programs in coordination with line Ministries, other state institutions and NGOs." he added.

Meanwhile, the Colombo Municipal Health Department has issued nearly 2200 notices to Government, private institutions and houses in the city during the last three weeks, warning them to clean their surroundings within seven days.

"No dengue case was reported during the last week, but we will continue our cleaning and as well as inspection programs", added Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam, the CMC's Chief Medical Officer. He said, the CMC has already taken legal action against three leading schools in the city for not adhering to CMC health standards.

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