The People’s Committees at districts, wards and communes must mobilise all resources and take drastic measures to prevent dengue fever, said Director of the municipal Department of Health Nguyen Tan Binh.

He made the statement at a ceremony held on May 5 to launch a campaign in response to the ASEAN Dengue Day 2018.

“Organisations, agencies and local people should set aside 10-15 minutes per week to find and kill mosquito larvae in their surroundings to prevent dengue fever”, he said.

Binh urged strict sanctions for any organisation and individual that do not take actions to kill mosquito larvae.

This year, the campaign will channel focus on removing containers of stagnant water where mosquitoes can breed during rainy season. It will cover inspection, surveillance and settlement of high-risk sites, along with communication activities among the community.

Thanks to effective measures against dengue fever, the number of dengue cases in the city in 2017 declined 11 percent from the previous year. In the first four months of 2018, the city reported 3,000 dengue patients, a year-on-year decrease of 31 percent.

However, Binh expressed concern at the increasing risk of dengue outbreaks happening early due to complex development of the weather.

VNA/VNP