We can win the war against dengue

Professor Tan Sri Dato' Dzulkifli Abdul Razak
My View - The Sun Daily
July 15, 2015

WITH Hari Raya around the corner, let us take a break from the 1MDB brouhaha. Let us invest some time in another 1MDB, that is, 1Membasmi Denggi Berbahaya, which has also been hitting the headlines.

The numbers are alarming. Selangor recorded about 1,500 cases by the end of June. Kelantan, Perak, Johor and Kuala Lumpur are the other hardest hit states.

According to the Ministry of Health, from January to June there were 56,533 dengue cases reported (a 39.9% increase) compared with 42,229 cases last year for the same period; and deaths doubled to 162 from 82 previously.

Others reportedly said that the number of people who have died from dengue fever had more than tripled in 2014 compared to 2013, with 250 cases reported daily. The Health Ministry declared dengue as an epidemic in July last year, but the situation continues to worsen.

Based on the serotype (distinct variations within a species of bacteria or viruses) shift that occurred in April this year and 2014's cyclical pattern, the ministry is expecting the upward trend in dengue cases to persist until the end of this year.

The ministry also urged private hospitals and healthcare centres to ensure their personnel were updated with the latest guidelines in the clinical management of dengue. Some 20% of dengue deaths nationwide occurred in private healthcare facilities.

Be that as it may, the dry spell, which is expected to last till October, adds to the worry since Aedes larvae being more resilient can outlast the punishing weather. Many people often lower their guard during the dry season.

We also need to be careful during long holiday breaks when the mosquito is more likely to breed in homes and offices that are left unattended.

The authorities found that 55% of the breeding areas are inside houses and compounds reiterating the message that our homes and offices need to be kept clean always to fight dengue.

There is a need to act in concert with the local authorities to ensure our cities, towns and villages are Aedes-free. The health minister's observation that rubbish was found strewn all over in public places is a cause for concern. He considered the situation as "a serious dengue crisis".

The move to rope in universities to adopt nearby dengue hotspots and fight the dengue menace is laudable. It builds on the "Dengue-free campus" initiative that aims to create awareness in campuses before the universities can be meaningfully mobilised to help the community.

I vividly recall a visit to Cuba some years back to learn that the entire island country was indeed dengue-free. The Cuban officials attributed this to well-mobilised citizen groups, including students, who diligently carried out regular voluntary inspections in their assigned areas of concern.

But on the local front, after listening to a briefing last week from one local student volunteer organisation, during its bid for a prestigious national innovation award, dengue was not even on the cards until enquiries were made.

What was highlighted was relatively "light" and "fun" programmes like cooking, painting, planting trees – which are all commendable but lack urgent priority vis-à-vis the nation's well-being as underscored by the alarming dengue crisis. With a membership of 1.3 million and with a launching grant of some millions of ringgit, the organisation should strive to pay back in the most optimal and impactful way to improve the community's wellness.

In retrospect, the fight against dengue is all about cleanliness, literally and figuratively – in the sense that we need a strong and sincere political will to earnestly protect the nation and its citizens from harm's way whatever the cause may be.

It is noted that just by regular housekeeping and inspections of water containers we can eliminate as much as 75% of the mosquito's breeding sources. If Cuba, which was weighed down by an unjust embargo for more than 50 years, can be dengue-free, it would be shameful for Malaysia to fail to do the same, now that even universities have joined the fight.