Taking the fight against dengue to a new level

Wednesday, 1 September 2010

Taking the fight against dengue to a new level

The fight against dengue has been been going on for as long as I can remember. I still remember hearing those anti-aedes songs on TV as a kid. Do you? Yet, despite this long drawn “war” dengue remains a serious problem in Malaysia, even in Subang Jaya. Earlier this year, USJ11 was one of the hottest hot spots in the country.
There are many factors for this. One is definitely the lack of concern by the public at large. Yes, even in USJ11, where every week, 5 to 15 people are confirmed to have dengue, apathy still rules. When MPSJ did campaigns there to clean up the area, and get residents to spend 10mins a week to check their houses, a lot of residents did not bother to come out and participate. Putting up banners warning this area is a dengue hotspot also didn't go anywhere.
Another reason this fight has probably not gone far is the lack of fear of the law. MPSJ has taken a hard stance on this. The fines have been fixed at RM500 if you're caught breeding mosquitoes in your house. No more discounts unlike previously. I guess those who are caught would never repeat the offense again. Some may complain that this is harsh, and it is harsh. But it’s necessary, as dengue can actually kill.
But lets take a the look on the war against dengue from inside MPSJ. MPSJ has a Public Health Department (Jabatan Kesihatan), now headed by Dr Roslan. Among other duties (we can cover those another day) is fighting dengue. I am the first to admit, that these department is short on manpower. It cannot do constant and random checks as often as we'd like to.
In a recent trip to Singapore, we found that they have approximately 2-3 times the manpower we do per capita. This is a limitation that is hard to fix, as hiring more people cost money, and most Malaysians don't want to do jobs like this. But I am working on getting MPSJ to increase the workforce in this department.
Secondly, while the health inspectors go around doing their inspections, there are other problems and hindrances that they encounter. Among them
•    MPSJ's rubbish bins were found to be breeding mosquitoes.
•    Blocked drains
•    Abandon houses
•    Illegal rubbish dump sites
•    constructions sites that are not properly managed, including house renovations
The above has contributed to mosquito breeding, and has to be tackled. But inter department cooperation under the guidance of the health department hasn't been working out. It’s understandable due to each department's high workload.
Back in April, we started a special task force on fighting dengue. I was chosen by my peers to head this, and the members were representative from various departments – among them public health, engineering, building control, township services, town planning, landscaping, enforcement and legal.
We started off by meeting once a week. We slowly chipped away all procedural issues, and ironed out all problems highlighted by the public health department.
The rubbish bins were modified, so they no longer contain water. Cooperation with the engineering department help resolve blocked drains issues. Town planning help identify owners, and thus enforcement action via summons could be issued. Building department helps monitor renovations, and takes action where necessary. All illegal rubbish dumping sites highlighted by the public health department were cleared away swiftly.
The Legal department helped come out with a standard operating procedure (SOP) for health inspectors to enter buildings which is abandoned or where owner is not allowing entry. Enforcement officers have always been present to assist any department in need.
This is the first time such cooperation has been put in place. While the weekly meetings (at first, later fortnightly) were stressful and tedious for the staff involved, we persevered. As a result, from the first 4 months of this year, today, dengue cases have dropped by over 70%.
The fight still goes on. I'm glad the inter-department cooperation has been established. Unlikely previously where half the breeding were found in public area, in the recent campaigns, less than 5% are in public areas. Most of it is within the perimeters of our houses.
We need to be vigilant if we are truly going to get rid of dengue. Singapore has done it. I believe we can. Would you chip in and do you part?