Johor folk urged to help keep rising dengue deaths down

JOHOR BARU: The number of dengue related deaths in the state has doubled last year.

The situation is expected to worsen if the people do not play their part in keeping their surroundings clean.

The number of deaths in 2015 doubled to 51 compared with 25 in 2014, said Johor health and environment committee chairman Datuk Ayob Rahmat.

“Last year we had 15,743 cases compared with 6,310 cases in 2014. This is worrying,” he said.

Johor Baru continued to remain at the top with 75% of all the dengue cases followed by Batu Pahat (5.5%), Kulai (4.1%), Segamat (3.3%), Pontian (2.7%), Kota Tinggi (2.7%), Muar (2.2%), Ledang (1.9%), Pontian (1.9%) and Mersing (0.5%).

Ayob added that there were 35 hotspots in Johor Baru alone with two in Kulai and one in Batu Pahat.

“Most of the cases in Johor Baru are due to the rapid development and construction taking place in the city.

“Out of the 120 development projects in Johor Baru, at least 40% to 50% were found to be Aedes breeding grounds,” he added.

He hoped that agencies, especially the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), would use its powers and temporarily close down worksites found to be breeding grounds for aedes mosquitoes.

“We need stronger enforcement from all agencies,” he said, adding that the local councils also needed to play their part.

He said fighting dengue was not the sole responsibility of the Health Department.

Ayob said at present, there were 200 development projects in the state with 120 in Johor Baru.

“We plan to take action against more developers but other agencies such as the CIDB should also use the laws to compel developers to keep their worksites clean,” he said, adding that last year some 3,563 compounds had been issued and 212 cases taken to court.