PM issues dengue prevention telegraph

Illustration photo

Dengue fever has developed complicatedly in numerous countries. Viet Nam is located in the area where dengue fever is circulated and has been badly hit. Since the beginning of 2017, 58,000 infected cases have been reported, including 17 deaths.

The number of hospitalized cases surged 11.2% against the same period last year and the number of fatality was three more. Some localities are suffering  the rising number of infected cases, namely HCMC, Ha Noi, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Binh Thuan, Binh Duong, An Gian, Tra Vinh, Ca Mau, Tay Ninh, Soc Trang, Tien Giang, and Nam Dinh.

Early summer arrival and higher average temperatures were mainly attributed to robust outbreak of dengue fever. In addition, rapid urbanization rate and lack of due attention to dengue meds also made the situation get worse.

Hence, the PM asks the following tasks:

1. Provincial and municipal People’s Committees are responsible for directing relevant agencies, departments, and sectors to encourage local residents to terminate mosquito especially at construction sites, guest-houses; keeping a close watch on the disease; and allocating expenditure.

2. The Ministry of Health was assigned to direct, instruct, and inspect localities to supervise, expose, and cope with disease hotspots; train medical staff; prepare materials and equipment to minimize fatality cases.

3. The Ministry of Information and Communications, the Viet Nam Television, the Voice of Viet Nam, the Viet Nam News Agency, and other press agencies were asked to closely work with the Ministry of Health to provide adequate information on dengue fever situation so that people will receive timely medical check-up.

5. The Ministry of Finance was urged to allocate enough expenditure for the fight against dengue outbreak./.

By Khanh Phuong