The Health Ministry has decided to conduct a Dengue eradication program in the Western Province due to the increased number of Dengue patients as the rainy season continues.

Health authorities earlier warned the public of rising dengue cases and urged them to keep their environments clean to prevent the breeding of the mosquitoes during rainy weather.

According to the Director of the Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry of Health, Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Paba Palihawadana a drastic increase in the number of dengue cases that have been reported around the island is observed.

So far this year 27,696 suspected dengue cases and 54 dengue deaths have been reported to the Epidemiology Unit from all over the island. Approximately 52.1 percent of dengue cases were reported from the Western province and from this, a total of 9,215 cases had been reported from the Colombo District.

This situation warrants regular removal of possible mosquito breeding sites from the environment, the Epidemiology Unit says.

The Health Ministry will deploy 426 teams from 28 MOH offices in the Western Province for the Dengue eradication program. It will be concluded on Wednesday.