S’gor draws up plan to snuff out hotspots

File pic: The perfect breeding ground for mosquito.

KLANG: With 98 hotspots, Selangor is really the hotbed of dengue in the country and the state has drawn up an action plan to combat the menace.

State Health, Welfare, Women and Family Affairs executive councillor Dr Daroyah Alwi said the action plan was outlined during a workshop on dengue recently and would be launched soon.

“We will inform the media about the plan in detail during the launching ceremony,” she said yesterday.

Dr Daroyah said there had been 3,825 dengue cases reported in October last year, with 4,024 cases in November and 5,746 cases in December.

“Our dengue trend analysis since 2010 showed that there has been an increase in cases during every year-end, especially in December. This trend happens at the national level too,” she said.

However, the total number of cases reported between October and December last year was fewer compared to the same period the year before, signifying a success in the state’s efforts.

“We are hopeful we can keep the number lower this year,” she said.

Of the 98 dengue hotspots in Selangor, 45 were in Petaling Jaya, 25 in Gombak, Hulu Langat (20), Hulu Selangor (3), Kuala Selangor (2), Klang (2) and Kuala Langat (1) .

State Local Government, New Village Development and Legalising of Factories executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah said Selangor would continue with its efforts to fight the dengue menace, including conducting random spot checks around premises at the hotspots.

All local councillors will continue organising gotong-royong in their respective areas to get rid of Aedes mosquito breeding grounds, he said. Random and frequent spot checks would also continue along with fogging.

Selangor Health Department director Datuk Dr S. Balachandran also said the department would focus on weeding out breeding grounds, with more campaigns and road shows to educate members of the public.

“It is very important to get every single person at every level of the community and society to come onboard and fight dengue,” he said.