Move to fight back dengue

Wolbachia-armed mosquitoes unleased in high-risk areas

SEGAMAT: Wolbachia-infected Aedes mosquitoes will be continuously released in stages via the Wolbachia Mosquito Release project in areas with increased dengue cases.

Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa (pic) said 50 million Wolbachia mosquitoes had already been released between July 2019 and May 2023 at 28 locations in Penang, Selangor, the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, Melaka, Kelantan, Pahang and Johor.

“So far, the highest number of locations (with released Wollbachia mosquitos) is 10 in Selangor, followed by seven locations in Kuala Lumpur.

“The release will be carried out for the existing locations as per schedule and the Health Ministry is also identifying other locations for further release,” Dr Zaliha said after launching the Johor state-level “Madani Afiat” and national-level Gotong-Royong Mega Perangi Aedes 2.0 programmes at SK Kampung Jawa here yesterday.

At the event, 415 volunteers from MyChampion Combi in Segamat and ‘Hero Kebersihan’ (cleanliness heroes) from SWCorp joined government and private agencies to carry out detection and cleaning activities to control dengue cases in the area.

Dr Zaliha said such activities are critical as dengue fever still poses a massive public health threat to the nation as a whole.

“Between January and Aug 12, the ministry recorded 73,680 cases compared with 33,911 cases for the same period last year, an increase of 117%.

“Fatalities for the same period are 53 this year compared with 22 last year, an increase of 141%,” she said.

She said yesterday’s launch of Madani Afiat in Johor is the fourth to be implemented, after Selangor, Kedah and Terengganu, and it was improved with the addition of cholesterol tests using the TouchPoint method via door-to-door screening.

“Prior to this, we did screenings for blood pressure and blood glucose levels (hemo glucose test-HGT) as well as educating people on healthy lifestyles.

“This time, we screened for cholesterol with the assistance of 130 nurses from the Batu Pahat Health Ministry Training Institute. The screening will be offered in future Madani Afiat programmes,” she said. — Bernama