Residents told to seek medical care for dengue’

RATANAKKIRI provincial governor Thong Savon has called on residents not to believe in superstition and instead seek treatment at health centres if they believe they have contracted dengue fever.

The prov ince recorded 460 dengue fever cases last year and one person died af ter fa iling to receive treatment in time.

“Ratanakkiri prov ince abounds with ethnic minorities who st i l l believe in superstitions. It makes it dif ficult for us to change their mindsets and att itudes towards healt h serv ices,” he said.

The governor said people died from the outbreak because they were making offerings to spirits instead of getting healthcare.

The env ironment in some v i l lages and communes, he said, is st i l l a factor in causing outbrea ks and they need to be cleaned up.

“Dengue fever happens in the same villages and communes. We try to educate them that it is a public health problem,” he said.

Provincial health department director Ung Ratana said the provincial administration has taken measures to distribute the anti-dengue larvicide Abate and ordered local authorities to spray against mosquitoes in all areas that recorded the fever.

“There have been eig ht deng ue cases i n t he first si x months of t he yea r. We inst r ucted t hose infected to get t reat ment a nd t here is no danger. This deng ue fever outbrea k lasts from April to November or December,” he sa id.

Dengue fever cases in the province spiked from 10 in 2018 to 460 last year.