The Anti-mosquito Steering Committee (AMSC) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) vowed on Thursday to devote sustained effort to control the growth of mosquito population and minimize the spread of dengue fever in the next wet season.
AMSC chairman Carrie Yau, who is also the permanent secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Bureau, also urged the public to team up with the SAR government in this sustained anti-mosquito campaign to greatly reduce the risk of the infectious disease to spread out in Hong Kong.
Yau told a media session after the steering committee's first meeting that the government accorded high priority to work related to anti-mosquito campaign and would extend it into the winter season.
"Controlling the mosquito population, according to our experts, is the most effective way in tackling this mosquito-borne disease," she said.
The steering committee was set up last week to escalate the fight against the mosquito problem following 36 reported cases of dengue fever, 20 of them were locally contracted.
Meanwhile, Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Yeoh Eng-kiong endorsed the steering committee's strategy to launch a comprehensive and territory-wide campaign against the mosquito problem.
He said, "The steering committee is facing a tough task to contain the growth of mosquito in the territory but with a concerted and sustainable effort from our community, I am confident that the problem will be contained."
(Xinhua News Agency October 11, 2002)
