Editorial
Another dengue tragedy looms
Mount a cleanliness campaign now


DENGUE fever has struck again. Four cases have been discovered in the city and there is apprehension that there may be unidentified cases elsewhere. After last year's experience, in which at least 93 people, mostly children, died from dengue fever, the least that we would expect from the Ministry of Health was that it would be better equipped to prevent a tragedy this year. It seems the Ministry has not learned from experience.

A year after the directorate of Disease Control was assigned to prepare the "National Guideline for Dengue Management," no such brochure is available. A standard for blood platelet level has not been defined and three platelet detectors, enabling separation of platelets from the blood for treatment of patients, already funded by the World Health Organisation, are yet to be installed.

The most effective preventive measure is to attack the root of the problem. Neighbouring countries faced with dengue outbreaks have reaped salubrious benefits by mounting sustained, grassroots level campaigns to clean up the breeding grounds of the Aedes mosquito. But far from undertaking such a move, our Ministry has been heard passing on the buck to ordinary citizens. We find this attitude callous and negligent. Environmental cleanliness is a public health issue that government must initiate and support. Ordinary citizens have to be made conscious of the pitfalls of providing stagnant reservoirs of water and dark breeding spots for the Aedes mosquito. Citizens must be mobilised and supported by government agencies at all levels.

The Ministry must not underestimate the dengue scourge. It has failed to provide appropriate tools, fill the gap in critical training material for the medical community and it is continuing to abdicate its responsibility to lead a comprehensive cleanliness campaign across the land. Dengue may wreak havoc on innocents this year as well, unless the Ministry of Health wakes up to its responsibilities.