tA '1tv(

Lima titik pan~s demamdenggi dikenal pasti

~

'-

Saya ingin menegaskan dengan hujan yangdiramal berterusan, kes demam denggi mungkinterus meningkat termasuk kem~tian jika tiadalangkah pencegahan yang serius diatnbil

- Liow Tiong Lai

Oleh HERMAN HAMID Katabeliau, dalam hal ini memang agensikementeriannya mempunyai kuasa untukmenjalankan penguatkuasaan tetapi ia tidakmemadai selagi tiadanya peranan masya-rakat sendiri. ,

Menurut beliau, sehingga Mac, 629,524premis telah diperiksa dan lebih 5,000 notisserm kompaun dikeluarkan selain 62 00-dakan mahkamah juga telah .diambil untukta,hun in,i.

.Katanya, keseluruhannya memang usaha -tersebut membolehkan penyakit ini dikawaldengan jumlah kes juga menurun sebanyak29 peratus berbanding tempoh yang samatahun lalu.

"Selain itu jumlah kematian untuk tem-poh tersebut turv.t mencatatkan pemirunansembilan kes namun kita tetap tidak bolehberpuas hati dengan penurunan ini keranakeseluruhan. kes masih lagi tinggi.

."Ini yangkita terus usiiliakan kerana iaboleh dituruDkan lagi memandangkan fak~tor untuk ia beIjaya hampir keseluruhaunyaterletak pada s~auh mana komitmen kita,"jelasnya.

KUALA LUMPUR 26 April - Ke-menterian Kesihatan mengenal pasti limatitik -panasdi negara ini sebagai kawasanMrisiko tinggi penularan wabak demamderiggidengan empat daripadanya berada disekitar Lembah Klang.

Menterinya, Datuk Liow Tiong Lai ber-kata, ini berikutan daripada 9,872 kes yangdicatatkan di selu~ negara untuk tigabulan pertama tahun ini;hampir 30 peratusatau 2,808 keg dicatatkan di lima kawasantersebut.

Katanya, menduduki senarai teratas ialahkawasan pentadbiran Majlis BandarayaShah Alam dengan 719 kes diikuti MajlisPerbandaran Klang(582),MajlisBandarayaJahor Bahru (536), Majlis Perbandaran Ka-jang (514) dan Majlis Perbandaran SubangJaya (457).

"Mengikut negeri, Selangor mencatatkanjumlah paling tinggi dengan 3,742 kes di-ikuti Kuala Lumpur 1,119kes dan Perak

1,084 kes."Saya ingin menegaskan dengan hujan

yang diramal berterusan, kes demam denggimungkin terus meningkat termasuk kema-tian jika ;tiada langkah pencegahan yangserius diambil," katanya pada sidang akhbaiselepas merasmikan Mesyuarat AnggotaParlimenAsia Ke-24 Mengenai Pembangu-nan dan Penduduk -di Bangunan Parlimen.di sjni hari ini.

Akhbar barg-baru ini melaporkan ke-bimbangan mengenai wabak denggi yangsehingga 19 April lalu telah meragut 35nyawa.

Sementara itu menurut Tiong Lai, lebihmembimbangkan dalam menangani wabak

denggi ialah ketiadaan vaksin untuk me-nanganinya berbanding penyakit bawaanvektor lain seperti malaria.

Katanya, malah untuk diagnosis penyakitini juga mengambil masa beberapa hariberikutan ketiadaan kaedah segera untukpiengesannyadan sekiranyaada pun kosnyapula lebih OOggi.

"Jadi pencegahan adalah langkah terbaikdan untuk melaksanakannya, kerajaan se-cara bersendirian tidak mampu melainkandengan keljasama rakyat.

"Caranya mudah, kita pastikan kawasansekitar bersih dengan tidak memberi ruanglangsung untuk nyamuk aedes membiakiaitiJ air bersih yang bertakp.ng,"jelasnya.

trrUsAN V1.~LAVilATarikh: ...2.1..~~~..~........

fHave~~re libraries,Go~u~g;dKUALALUMPUR:The MCA Lifelong Learn-ing (LLL) secretariat has urged the Govern-ment to set up more community libraries topromote reading habit among Malaysians.

Its director Quek Ngee Meng said the sec-retariat would also submit a memorandumto the Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage, andFinance Ministry to ask for higher tax rebatefor the purchase of books.

"We want to influence the Government toimplement policies and incentives that pro-mote the reading habit and shape a readingculture at the community level," he said atthe launching of the LLLReading Club: BlueOcean Strategies event here yesterday.

He said the LLLwould also set up learning

centres nationwide and facilitate the estab-lishment of reading clubs in various places,including schools,colleges,officesand book-stores.

"We will also have a reading club men-tors training programme to encourage morepeople to be involved actively in readingclub,projects and set up more such clubs,"he said.

Quek said the secretariat would recom-mend 12 Chineseand 12 English~ookstwicea year for all the reading clubs..

The books selected are based on five cate-gories: social science, literature and classics,life and health, business and management aswell as parenting skillsand education.

START81'ikb: 2.1 ~p~ 2008.. . ....................

d1v' 1-0'\~

'Warrior' mosquitoes. to fightdenguescourge

MIlliONS of genetically mod-ified (GM) "warrior" Aedesmos-quitoes will soon be re-leased into the fishing villageofPulau KetamoffSelangor aspart of international field tri-als to fight the denguescourge.

The GM male Aedes aegyptimos-quitoes, which carrykiller genes, will be releaSedinto the wild to eliminate theAedes mosquito populationwhich spreads dengue fever.

The field trials will be un-dertaken by the Health Min-istry's Institute of Medical Re-search (IMR) in collaborationwith British-based Oxitec Ltd,an insect bio-tech companypart-owned by the UniversityofOxford.

This follows the success ofconfined lab trials which wereconducted under the supervi-siop of the IMR over the pastyear.

The field testing is expectedto be conducted on a widerscale on. Pulau Ketam at theend of the year or early nextyear.

The team is undertaking abaseline survey of the island,which is reported to have ahigh number of the Aedes aecgypti mosquitoes.

.Oxitec has advertised on itswebsite vacancies for the Pu-lau .Ketam field-testing job,which includes a position fora senior entomologist.

The field trials on the island,Which is a 30-minute boat ridefrom Port Klang, are expectedto be carried out over a year.

HealthMinjstry and IMR of-ficials did not want to com-

It is learnt that if the PulauKetam field trials prove suc-cessf\Il, the next step would beto introduce the killer mos- Iquitoes in bigger towns whichhave a high incidence ofdengue.

The Telegraph had also re-ported that the sterile insect Itechnique (Sm, which in-volves releasing millions ofsterile male insects over awide area to mate with the na-

tive female ones, had been

around for decades. IIt said the conventional ster-

ilisation programmes usingradiation or chemical treat-ment to foster sterility, whichwere tried on mosquitoes aswell, did not work.

Irradiation rendered thesemosquitoes so sickly and Iunattractive that their femalecounterparts shunned themfor the wild ones.

On the other hand, mosquit-

\oes'subjected to Oxitec's pro-prietary technique, calledRIDL-SIT, remained healthyand attractive enough to woo Ithe native female insects.

Thiswasprovedinindepen- Ident case studies in Oxfordand France and in contained

Isemi-field trials in Malaysia.Vasan was quoted as saying

that the latest study in Mal- Iaysia showed that "up to 50per cent of the wild type fe-male mosquitoes chose tomate with Oxitec's RIDL male

mosquitoes". .

The paper added that Oxitechad receive

.

d r.

egulatory. .

andIimport permits for confined

evaluation in the US, FranceandNlalaysia. I

The days of the Aedes mosquitoes appear to be numbered,thanks to the efforts of a Britishbio-tech company andMalaysia'sInstituteof MedicalResearch,writesP.SELVARANI

'" ~

It.

"

.. 2 ,.j

'""i t

"'-

If the Pulau Ketam field tests are successful, the days of the Aedes

mosquito may be at an end.

ment on the tests.In February, Oxitec had an-

nounced that it planned to re-lease the GM mosquitoes inMalaysia on a large scale inthree years, following itssuc-cessful trials.

Calcutta's The Telegraphnewspaper had quoted Ox-

itec's head of public' health,Seshadri S. Vasan, as saytiigthat the first confined fieldstudy under the supervision 'ofthe IMR "yielded encouragingresults".

Sources said the controlledlab tests done here were thefirst in the world and was- a

breakthrough in the fightagainst dengue, which hasgrown to alarming propor-tions across the globe in recentyears.

The technique involves re-leasing GM male Aedesmosquitoes to mate with thefemale Aedes mosquito; Thelethal genes cause the larvaeto die.

(Only afemale mosquito cantransmit the disease-causinggerm because it, and not themale mosquito, has a pro-boscis that is capable ofpierc-ing the human skin.)

The Aedes mosquito is themain vector for dengue andchikungunya fever and con-ventional methods such asfogging have been ineffectivein controlling the spread ofthese diseases.

However, environmentalnon-governmental organisa-tions fear that releasing theseGM mosquitoes in the wildmayatfect the ecosystem andcause further damage.

Gnrmit Singh, the chairmanof the CentreJor Eilvironment,Technology and Development,

.said: "Uke all GM organisms,.once they have been releasedin tl)e wild, how do you pre-vent them from interactingwith other insects and produc-ing mutants which m.ay beworse than the Aedes mos-quito?"

NEW STRAi [5 liMBSTarikh: 2.1..AP.P...lR'......

- -- ~ ',""" ,,"m ~p ,F.='~CF=~ '. ". '..'" ..."'d'.~_~'."':-~:~." '~"SC":',t>n(q;"~1-

Fear overnnpact&necQI~tc~.s,'s8mN:,ENVIRONMENTALISTS are

not against new technologiesto fight the dengue scourgebut are against the use of ge-netically modified organisms(GMOs) which may causemore harm than good.

Acknowledging the rieed toprogress with science, Cet-dem's, Gurmit Singh fearedthat the intr.oduction oftheGMwosquitoes into the Wild toeliminate the aedes pOP11la-tion could instead have seriousconsequences on thecoun-try's ecologicalsystem.

"And like. all GMOs,oncetheyare releasedintothewild,howdoyoupreventthem frominteracting or crossbreedingwithother insectsandproduc-ing mutants .which may be

worse than the aedes the fieldtests.mosquito?"he asked. " "Is it becauseit is ~rone tg.

"Although 'the technology dengueorisitb!"causeJt is ansounds positivein~gettingrid island and therefore easier toof the, dengue' menace" we controlintlie eventsomethingcannottake riskspn abigsQale goeswrong?"becausewereallydonot know, Hesaid there shouldalsobethe side effect these effective monitoring of themosquitoeswill~ave on other project if, it is impleJ1lentedorganisms and the eco-sys- aIld suggestedthat it be donetern. " bya broad{,group'ofindepen-

"LJnless they have done dentresearchers .fromaroundenoughstudiestoascertainthe .I'theworld.safetyofthe GMmosquitoand Malaysian Nature Societyuntil these questionsare an- presidentDatukDr SallehMo-swered,I wouldbeuncomfort- hd Nor said it would be dan-ablewiththeuseofGMOs." gerous"toreleasetheseGMOs

Fish and other insects ~uch intothewildwithiRehopethatas the dragonfly feed on itwoulddothe thingsit should,mosquitolarvae. do".

Gurmitalsoquestionedwhy' He said although scientistsPulau Ketam was chosen for should not. be stopped from

carryingoutitriaI$g.!lqgio-neeringriew technologiesfQrthe benefit of mankind, they'should approach it with cau ~

tion. '

"I'm concerned'thatreleas-~. ing it into tne,. wild withollt

thoroughly understanding its"implicationsmayaffeclf thf'Jecolqgy and ,cause other dis-eases to be transmitted."

Salleh also queStionedwhether the country waslegally protected.in the eventsomething goes wrong' wiillthese field trials.

"These issues have not beenraised. We need adequatelaws to ensure there is a DatukDrSalleh.MohdNormechanismin:elaceitoprotectsaYBdentists shouldbethe country under such cir- cautiouswith new

c~We~iRArTS TIM~c~mologieS, ',' 2 7 APR2008

Tarikh: .' .. ..............

p,1 211<-1

Weneedto domore,saysLiowKUAlA LUMPUR: A total of35dengue deaths were reportednationwide ITom early thisyear to last Saturday, theHealth Ministry said.

There were 38 deaths from16,260 cases during the sameperiod last year.

There was also a decreaseof about 30 per cent for thefirst three months of the yearcompared with last year.

Between Jan 1 and March30 this year, 9,872 denguecases were recorded nation-.wide compared with 13,904cases for the same period in2007.

The number of dengue-re.lated deaths was at 25, com-paredwith 36 last year

Despite the improvement,Health Minister Datuk UowTiong Lai is still not satisfied.

"Although there are im-provements and we have con-trolled the spread of the dis-ease, I am sad because thenumber of cases and deaths isstill high, "he said after open-ing the 24th Asian Parliamen.tarians Meetings on Popula.tion and Development: Cli-mate Change, Infectious'Dis-easeS and Population Issues atParliaI}lentHouse yesterday.

Selanggrtoppedthelist with3,742 dengue cases for thefirst three mo.p.ths of:this year,foliowedby Kuala Lumpur(1,119) and Perak (1,084).

, 1'l1e t(jp five ho~pots in thecountry are ShlJ,hAlam with719,cases,Klang (582), JohorBaru (536).C!s:ajang (514) andSubangJ<lya(457)- '.

IJow called onlocalco,uncilsand the public to workwifutb.eministry to tackle ,the prob-lem."Thisis a prpblem whichcaIl'be overcome but we needthe co-operation and supportITOInall."

He said the 1I'ii'nistry hadtaken other proactive stepslike increasing public aware-ness through health educa-tion, intensifying dengue-re.lated research, stepping up ,search and destroy activitiesagainst mosquito-breedingand fogging.

Meanwhile, in Kuala Krai, a29-year-old- mother of threefrom Jalan Kampung hm-dang died of suspected denguefever on Thursday.

If it is confirmed, TengkuPuteri Sed Auis Aini TengkuIbralIim would be the fifthdengue victim in Kelantan.

Kelantan health director DrMohd Kamil Hassan said:" We

are waitillg for the post-mortem report to determinethe cause of death."

NEW STRAl rs TiMESTarikh: !.L~f.ff "