More clean-up drives were actioned to help eradicate dengue fever.

The Labasa Town Council did their bit to clean up at Labasa’s Subrail Park yesterday while the whole nation were glued in front of their TV sets watching the game between Fiji and England.

Labasa/Savusavu special administrator Vijay Chand said the clean-up campaign, which was launched on Friday at Vunivau in Labasa, not only involved council workers but the public as well.

“The council is proud to take part in this clean-up campaign because it’s part of our civic responsibility,” he said.

“This is the first week of the clean-up campaign; after this we will have a follow-up series of dengue spraying within and outside the town boundaries.”

Mr Chand said they were also extending the collection of extra refuse generated out of this clean-up campaign.

“Dengue fever historically would appear in intervals of three to five years, but today this is no longer true. The pattern is erratic and we must be ready; we must be proactive about it,” Mr Chand said.

“About this time in 2013, Fiji was hit by one of the worst dengue outbreaks ever. It lasted over six months, but we were able bring it under control through the co-ordinated efforts of Government ministries, communities, corporate bodies and our donor partners.”

Mr Chand said dengue had become a public health threat throughout the year with Macuata recording the highest positively diagnosed number of cases with 598.

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