Personal intervention required to deal with the dengue outbreak in Jalan Ong Kim Wee, Melaka, that has been unattended for 3 months and ensuring such neglect and breakdown in communication is not repeated

Memorandum to YB Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, Minister Of Health

by Lim Guan Eng

(Melaka, Tuesday): We refer to your press statement yesterday that there is no dengue outbreak in Malaysia and it is wrong for a Hong Kong newspaper to issue a travel advisory cautioning against visiting Malaysia due to an alleged dengue outbreak. You said that “this advice is baseless because dengue is endemic, meaning that it is always here but there occurs an increase in cases from time to time and that Selangor was the only state that had seen an increase in dengue cases. Travellers from Hong Kong have no cause to fear they would contract dengue fever if they visit Malaysia.”

Unfortunately this is not so in Jalan Ong Kim Wee in Melaka. There appears to have been a dengue outbreak as shown by at least 11 persons being hospitalised since September 2006 in the area, with 6 of them hospitalized during the last 10 days for suspected dengue fever. There is an equal number of people suffering fever who have not been hospitalized.

What is most shocking is that the health authorities in Melaka, especially Melaka State EXCO for Health YB Datuk Seah Kwi Tong, had no knowledge of such a dengue outbreak. Throughout this period, neither Seah nor the Melaka Health Department classify Jalan Ong Kim Wee as a black area. Instead they announced that the number of dengue cases had dropped in Melaka.

Such breakdown in communication and obtaining information is unforgivable. If action had been taken earlier, when the first dengue cases were detected, several patients could have been saved from being bitten by the aedes mosquitoes and hospitalized. For this reason, the residents in Jalan Ong Kim Wee have lost of confidence in the ability of Seah to handle this dengue outbreak in Melaka.

Seah had not even visited the area and had even blamed the residents for being unco-operative in not maintaining local cleanliness and hygiene. For Seah to blame the residents for the dengue outbreak is utterly irresponsible and shows that he is not fit to tackle the dengue outbreak. By blaming the residents first is to avoid focus on their failure to deal with the crisis and angered the residents afflicted by the dengue outbreak.

Instead we request that YB Minister intervene personally by dealing with dengue outbreak in Jalan Ong Kim Wee that has been unattended for 3 months and ensuring such neglect and breakdown in communication is not repeated again. In the interests of public safety, the cause of such breeding of aedes mosquito in Jalan Ong Kim Wee located at this centre of Melaka city must be detected to ensure that this dengue outbreak does not recur in future and affect the health and lives of local residents.

In anticipation of an early reply.