Tran Dac Phu, head of the Preventive Medicine Department, announced a range of activities in response to ASEAN Dengue Day (June 15), at a press conference in Ho Chi Minh City on June 12.
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| Spraying chemicals to prevent dengue fever. |
Tran Dac Phu, head of the Preventive Medicine Department, announced a range of activities in response to ASEAN Dengue Day (June 15), at a press conference in Ho Chi Minh City on June 12.
He stressed that given the fact that there are no vaccines and medicines against dengue, preventative measures are still the top priorities.
Accordingly, on June 14, a meeting is scheduled to take place in District 7 in Ho Chi Minh City with an estimated participation of 3,000 people. The same day, a communication campaign on eliminating mosquito larvae will be launched across eight disease-prone cities and provinces nationwide, including Can Tho, Vinh Long, Dong Nai, Da Nang and Dak Lak.
Meanwhile, the HCM City Pasteur Institute and Sanofi Pasteur co-organise a contest on making short films on the dengue topic. The competition runs from June 12 to the first day of August.
Dengue prevention measures will also be promoted on local buses in Ho Chi Minh City.
The World Health Organisation said some 96 million dengue fever infections were recorded annually worldwide, resulting in approximately 12,500 deaths.
In Vietnam, there are up to 100,000 people infected each year. In the first five months of 2015, more than 10,000 cases were recorded.
In Ho Chi Minh only, as of June 4, over 4,600 people have been infected, an annual 27 percent increase and two died of the disease.
(Source: VNA)
