Thailand. Department of Health Attacks at Dengue Springs – Thailand

WRITER: APINYA WIPATAYOTIN

According to Dr. Sukhum Kanchanapimai, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, property owners who fail to get rid of mosquito larvae face a prison sentence of up to three years and / or a fine of up to three years. go up to 25,000 baht.

Dr. Sukhum told the media yesterday that the ministry plans to launch a campaign to eliminate the sources of larvae every Friday and use the 1992 Public Health Act to compel the public to contribute to the prevention of disease. dengue epidemics.

The ministry says that mosquito breeding sources violate the law.

This decision comes after the official announcement by the Ministry of a national "epidemic" of dengue fever yesterday, after the number of deaths and patients admitted for dengue fever has exceeded the "acceptable level".

According to the definition of an epidemic, the number of patients must be greater than the average of five years.

"We could say that it is at the stage of the epidemic," said Dr. Preecha Prempree, deputy head of the department of diseases.

The department revealed yesterday that the number of dengue patients had nearly doubled due to the lack of control of the sources of larvae.

According to the department, the number of dengue cases reported between January 1 and June 11 was 28,785, 1.5 times higher than during the same period of time. ;last year.

The death toll also reached 43 or 0.15% of the total number of patients.

The department also set the normal standard for dengue fever at 0.1 per 100 population and this year's statistic rose to 0.6 instead of 0.14 last year.

It is expected that a number of patients this year could reach 100,000 cases.

According to the latest survey of the department, one of the main sources of larvae – the main cause of dengue fever are overcrowded communities and temples housing water reservoirs.

In an effort to control the disease, the Ministry of Public Health and eight other agencies yesterday signed an Environmental Management Pact for Mosquito Control, which will come into effect in 2019-2023.

He added that the rise of dengue also struck neighboring countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"The dengue epidemic is not confined to Thailand, but seven surrounding countries have also seen an increase in the number of dengue cases," said Dr. Preecha.