State building gutters out during Mosquito Control Week

Nadira Gunatilleke

The Health Ministry will declare a National Mosquito Control Week from July 1 to 7 under the direction of Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena.

Gutters of all state buildings will be removed during this week. It is discovered that 29 percent of dengue breeding sites are gutters, a Health Ministry spokesperson said.

According to the spokesperson, private institutions should also remove their gutters if they are unable to maintain them properly, without allowing mosquitoes to breed. Cleaning and removing mosquito breeding sites are two different tasks and even clean environments can have mosquito breeding sites, he said. "Therefore, it is required to remove all mosquito breeding sites," he added.

It is compulsory for all ministries in the Presidential Task Force on Dengue Control to take part in this National Mosquito Control Week actively and all state institutions are required to clean their buildings and surroundings to make sure that no mosquito breeding sites are located inside their buildings and surroundings, the spokesperson said.

"In the past some state institutions did not take part in mosquito control activities," he said.