Controlling Dengue

Once again Dengue is spreading. At the present rate it is feared that 2010 would even eclipse the record number of Dengue patients and deaths recorded last year.

It is unfortunate that the authorities have no consistent year-round program to control the disease. There is too much talking and less action. The much publicized community participation programs for dengue control are conducted only after the disease takes a heavy toll in lives and reaches epidemic proportions. They are also short-lived.

Serious and dedicated action to control the epidemic is replaced by fighting the disease through media campaigns. If one were to believe the media stories from authoritative sources that were flashed in the media for the last one or two years one would wonder why the disease still persists.

It was made to understand through the media that the authorities have taken extra pains to get down Cuban biovecticides to control the disease urgently. In fact Cuban experts were flown here. They spent over three months studying the situation here. Their report was handed over. A report on the report also was handed over. There were stories about importing Cuban biovecticide BTI. Yet so far nothing has materialized.

It has taken one whole year but the ground situation is either the same or even worse. In the meantime when the rainy season was over last year the authorities did take the credit through the media for the natural waning of the epidemic. On the other hand they seem to be reluctant to share even a part of the blame for the increase in the incidence of the disease.

It is high time that the authorities as well as the public commit themselves in earnest to rid the country of Dengue. What is necessary is a holistic approach where preference should be given to the eradication of mosquito breeding places through community participation. Only a 365 day program with mass participation through the length and breadth of the country for several years could bring lasting results. The media has a huge role to play by disseminating awareness about the disease and its consequences as well as how to insure a clean secure environment. In this, it has to be admitted, that the media too has failed. It could also be accused of complacency and indifference, the normal charges that are generally levelled against the authorities.

Since there is a high density of mosquito larvae in the environment the spread of biovecticides such as the BTI is also a necessity. The question is not the origin of the BTI, whether it is Cuban or American or local, but the introduction and continuation of its use to control the disease. It is unfortunate that the bureaucracy is still haggling over it without importing the stuff.

As regards the local BTI, it is still being developed. Pity that those responsible for developing it are not given due encouragement and assistance. Research in Sri Lanka is poorly paid and not welcomed unless it has a commercial value with a quick turnover.

Neither have the economists convinced the authorities that spending on preventing the disease is far economical than spending larger amounts on treating or curing the disease.

Eradicating or eliminating the incidence of Dengue fever is a task that cannot be accomplished by one Ministry or one individual. What is required is to utilize the synergies of the broadest section of the administration and cooperation of the public for the purpose. For example, the local Government bodies, who do not dispose of garbage in a proper manner, are responsible for the pollution of the environment and offering more breeding places to the mosquitoes. Perhaps the Energy Ministry and the Science and Technology Ministry could assist the local bodies in showing how they could produce bio-fuel or fertilizers from the waste these bodies collect on a mass scale daily.

In the lexicon of modern political economy as practised in Sri Lanka what is required is for the patriots to come forward to rid the Motherland of this frightful epidemic that would devour a good number of the compatriots. After all patriotism is much more than waving the National Flag and standing at attention to the National Anthem.