Workers with Klang Royal City Council Health Department and residents of Taman Desa Permai off Jalan Meru Tambahan clean up the back lanes under LOBBA campaign. - Photos courtesy of MBDK
COMMUNITY-LED efforts to clean up back lanes are being encouraged as a crucial approach to protect neighbourhoods from dengue fever and collectively tackle mosquito breeding in common spaces.
Klang Royal City Council (MBDK) Health Department director Azmi Muji said the fight against dengue had been ramped up with the council initiating the Back Lanes Free of Aedes (Lobba) campaign.
It aims to educate residents on the importance of keeping their back lanes clear of unwanted containers that hold water.
On average, 210 cases have been reported in Klang every week since the start of the year.
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Azmi said that as of epidemiological week 21 (May 19 to 25), Klang recorded a total of 4,411 confirmed dengue cases, including two fatalities.
In the corresponding period last year, the figure stood at 4,269 cases with no deaths.
For the whole of last year, Klang recorded 9,164 dengue cases with three deaths.
Lobba is under the council’s Dengue Hotspot Eradication Campaign 2024.
Klang Royal City Council Health Department director Azmi Muji (left) with health inspector Zakaria Ismail encouraged people to spend 10 minutes a week to clean their surroundings.
To date, MBDK has carried out 112,363 dengue inspections throughout Klang, uncovering 5,349 Aedes mosquito breeding sites.
More than half were in back lanes and inside homes, it revealed.
“On Sunday (May 26), our health inspectors carried out the Lobba campaign at Taman Desa Permai off Jalan Meru Tambahan where 25 residents came down with dengue, leading to the area being declared a hotspot,” he said.
In Taman Desa Permai, the council together with cleaning contractors from Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad removed old tyres, potted plants and broken furniture, while the district Health Department and MBDK’s officers checked the area for larvae.
Fogging was carried out in the evening.
Azmi said current hotspots in Klang are a hostel in a glove factory in Meru (six cases), Persiaran Seraya and Lebuh Setaka in Taman Chi Liung (eight cases), Apartment Bayu Villa in Taman Bayu Perdana (17 cases) and Palma Apartments (seven cases).
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“We need collective community action and vigilance to curb the surge of dengue,” he said, explaining that hotspots are areas where there are cases for more than 30 days from the time the first case was recorded.
He urged residents living in hotspots to cooperate with the city council's health inspectors during their rounds.
“If MBDK health inspectors visit a house they will introduce and identify themselves by showing their authority card.
"Health inspectors will enter homes only after the occupant gives consent, and accompanies them throughout the entire inspection process,” he said.
Azmi added that some residents have the misconception that the team shows up intending to issue fines.
“Our intention is purely to eliminate any possible mosquito breeding sites. This is a serious public health issue, so we go (around) to contain the dengue hotspots,” he said.
Of the 11 state constituencies in the Klang area, Sentosa has recorded 747 cumulative cases so far this year; Meru, 591; Sementa, 596; Kota Kemuning, 618; Bandar Baru Klang, 454; Port Klang, 439; Selat Klang, 289; Sungai Kandis, 338; Pandamaran, 291; Kota Anggerik, 24; and Batu Tiga, 24.
