Access Engineering took the initiative to identify and eradicate dengue breeding grounds in and around schools located in Colombo which come under the purview of the Colombo Municipal Council initially eight schools (Ladies College, Nalanda College, St. Joseph's College, St. Bridget's Convent, Royal College, Thurston College, Bishop's College, D.S Senanayake College) were chosen for the program. The initial awareness and inspection program was conducted in and around Ladies College in Colombo last week and will be continued with a follow-up session today (November 1).
The school premises was carefully examined and necessary action taken to stop potentialbreeding grounds and clear areas where threats may occur in the future. During this programmme, a total of 203 premises in the surrounding areas of Ladies College were inspected and 54 potential breeding sites and 20 current breeding sites were located while the Public Health Inspectors issued 74 notices to residents in these areas.
Before the program kicked off, a briefing was held at the Colombo Municipal Council premises where Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam, Chief Medical Officer of the CMC, gave an informative introduction about the issues of dengue and the benefits to people by this program.
He thanked Access Engineering for this ground breaking program which will entice others in the corporate sector to follow.
Sri Lanka experienced the largest epidemic of dengue fever with as many as 70,000 cases and almost 600 deaths during the years 2009 and 2010. The Health Ministry of the government of Sri Lanka, undertook measures to contain the dengue epidemic by establishing the 'Presidential Task Force for Dengue Control' that ensured much needed collaboration and coordination.
However, the dengue epidemic is on the rise again and Access Engineering PLC together with the Colombo Municipal Council and Environmental Police recently implemented a program to counter the spread of this disease. Employees of Access Engineering, together with an Environmental Police officers headed by Chanaka Iddamalgoda Chief Inspector of Environmental Police and Mangala Dehideniya, HQI Kollupitiya,
Kandula Wickramasinghe, Chief PHI, CMC, Dr. Sri Parthapan MOH with Health Professionals and staff attached to the Ministry of Health visited many residents of the area to inspect their premises and gave important tips on how to prevent dengue breeding areas and good practices for a healthy atmosphere. Every location which was safe and matched the safe criteria, was given a 'My Home is Dengue Free' sticker of approval from the Health Ministry.
Today the same team would revisit these premises to monitor the progress and take appropriate action.
Source:www.dailynews.lk