Schools accounted for the highest proportion of dengue mosquito breeding sites identified during recent inspections, Health Minister and Cabinet Spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa said.
Speaking at the weekly Cabinet media briefing on Tuesday (16), Jayatissa said 41% of the locations inspected within the school system had been identified as dengue breeding grounds.
“Among the places inspected, around 41% of schools were found to have dengue mosquito breeding sites. Religious institutions accounted for 28%, while industrial premises accounted for 26%,” Jayatissa said.
He noted that public health authorities were maintaining close attention on locations with higher mosquito breeding rates and were encouraging the public to support cleaning efforts.
“Public health inspectors are continuously monitoring these locations and encouraging the public to ensure that such places are properly cleaned and maintained,” he said.
Jayatissa warned that the dengue situation had become serious in 14 districts, including those in the Western and Southern provinces, Kandy and Matale in the Central Province, Badulla, Batticaloa, both districts in the North Western Province and both districts in the Sabaragamuwa Province.
“This issue has become serious in 14 districts across the country. Cleaning programmes are continuing, but this effort will only be successful if we intervene collectively as a country,” he said. (Newswire)
