Phnom Penh Takes Up Fight Against Dengue Rising

Health and municipal officials will literally roll up their sleeves today to help fight the battle against dengue fever.

Chea Sophara, Phnom Penh’s first deputy governor, and Health Minister Dr Chhea Thang will be among thousands of other Phnom Penh citizens busy cleaning.

The plan is to get city residents to fill in holes, cover water jars and dispose of garbage around their homes that could col­lect water and become breeding sites for mosquitoes.

Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a viral disease spread by the bite of the “Tiger” mosquito. The most effective way to prevent it is to keep areas outside homes clean and get rid of breeding sites for the tiger mosquito, doctors said.

“We want to stimulate the people to practice hygiene and alert the people about the dengue situation,” said Dr Duong Socheat, vice-director of the National Ma­la­ria Center. “People should clean like this every two we­eks––one day is not enough, not even a little bit.”

The campaign is part of an in­ternationally organized effort to fight a dengue hemorrhagic fe­ver epidemic. About 8,700 children have been admitted to hospitals since an early outbreak in January; 230 have died.

According to statistics from the International Red Cross, pediatric admissions could rise to more than 16,000 by the end of this year’s rainy season––making it the worst dengue epidemic in the history of the country.

“The rains have not yet started. We are hoping through this campaign we can get a start on this before the peaks get started. We are hoping it will help––at least a little bit,” said Sijia Tyrninoksa, head of delegation for the Inter­national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Phnom Penh.

The international community has responded with donations of medicine, insecticide and pled­ges of financial support. On Thursday, the Japanese government donated about $65,000 worth of medicine for provincial hospitals.

The International Red Cross states it is still not enough to meet the estimated $658,000 needed to deal with the epidemic.

 

 

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