“Health for all, everyone, everywhere” is the theme of World Health Day 2019. Have we really achieved this in Sri Lanka?
Dengue fever is a threat that Sri Lanka battles vigorously. In my opinion, we are still not making positive progress. More than 80,000 patients were reported last year while the death toll keeps rising. The Dengue fever outbreak generally occurs after a heavy rains and floods which occur annually in Sri Lanka. After heavy monsoon rains, the public fail to clear rain soaked garbage and standing waterpools - the potential breeding grounds for the Dengue mosquito.
Establishing hospitals at every kilometre is not a practical solution for this threat. Using chemical gases to chase away mosquitoes is temporary. Waiting for the Government to act has not been successful.
If Sri Lankans are to eradicate this menace, we must uproot it from its origin. If we destroy mosquito breeding grounds, all of them together, there won’t be an outbreak of Dengue hereafter. If we clean our residential areas destroying all the breeding grounds and if we continue this habit for a couple of years, we can be victorious.
It is our responsibility to mark an end to this issue and hand over a safe and prosperous country to our future generation.
M.K. Janithya Risadi,
Grade 11,
Gothami Balika Vidyalaya,
Colombo 10.