PETALING JAYA: Apart from the Health Ministry, the Local Government Development Ministry has employed several dengue control measures to keep the virus at bay.
The Local Government Development Minister, Nga Kor Ming, told The Star that the ministry’s guidelines for Mosquito Control At Local Authorities, which have been in place since Aug 30, 2019, are centred on the concept of preventing dengue cases by controlling Aedes mosquitoes.
“The Local Government Development Ministry’s guideline is to complement the Health Ministry’s efforts in dengue control, whereby our main focus is to control mosquitoes, especially the Aedes breeding grounds, by keeping areas clean,” he said.
Last year, 155 local authorities performed dengue control activities nationwide, including searching and destroying mosquito breeding places at over 1.70 million premises, spraying larvicide insecticides at over 1.19 million premises, fogging at over 3.21 million premises, and cleaning at 5218 locations, he said.
“In addition, local councils also carried out health promotion activities to educate the public on dengue prevention, such as health talks and exhibitions.
“In 2022, a total of 4,464 such activities were carried out in various forums,” he said, adding that the ministry had also carried out an annual Dengue Prevention Campaign in collaboration with local authorities, based on the dengue hotspots.
“With the guidance of the Health Ministry, we will continuously monitor and step up these programmes to safeguard the communities against the dengue outbreak.
“I believe prevention is better than cure. Taking proactive actions, like gotong-royong to keep housing areas free from Aedes breeding grounds, will help control dengue,” he added.
“Littering has been a major contributing factor in Aedes breeding.
“We hope the public is diligent in keeping their surrounding areas clean and free from litter. We encourage the public to report illegal dumping grounds to the local authorities,” he said.
The ministry urges all Malaysians to come together in the fight against dengue.
“Everyone should play their part in taking care of public hygiene, especially if it’s a potential breeding ground in their neighbourhoods.
“Every life is precious, and it takes all of us, the public and government, to achieve this national mission to safeguard public health,” he added.
