Army battles dengue in Jaffna

A week-long dengue prevention campaign, spearheaded in Jaffna by the Army with the support of schoolchildren and civil sector organizations saw its inauguration Tuesday morning during a brief ceremony at the newly-opened Civil Coordination Office.

Both Jaffna Security Forces, Commander Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe and Jaffna District Secretary K. Ganesh who took the initiative in this connection were present at the inaugural event. Government officials, schoolchildren, members of the Army and armed forces, police, civil sector organizations and civilians offered their participation in this seven-day awareness program since many dengue cases have been reported from the peninsula in the past three weeks.

Tuesday's inauguration added colour and fun to the occasion as colourful mosquito replicas, produced by schoolchildren and the Army troops showed the dangers, associated with mosquito bites, breeding spots and implementation of preventive measures.

Later on, hundreds of soldiers began garbage clearing work along sideways and clogged water canals and drains.

At the same time, awareness brochures printed in Tamil were distributed among all those who were present by the Army personnel. Major General Hathurusinghe addressed the gathering and explained the importance of this program.

The 51 Division, responsible for the smooth conduct of the seven day program expects to visit each and every school and educate both children and teachers on the danger of its spread, largely due to public carelessness and negligence.

Health authorities in the meantime have launched a simultaneous door to door awareness program as the number of dengue cases reported are fast on the rise in separate health divisions.