21 June 2017 08:16 am
Referring to questions raised by the opposition MPs on usage of BTI bacteria as in the case of Cuba the minister said that country was successful not because of BTI alone. 'Cuban government applied rigid rules such as demolishing houses which were found to be dengue breeding grounds and we cannot implement such tough laws" he said.
The Minister said a new trace of Dengue which causes severe symptoms than usual have spread over to Sri Lanka “There were only Dengue virus 1 or 4 in Sri Lanka earlier but a new trace have been found in the island lately," the minister said. He said it is this new trace that has caused much trouble.
He said patients are being treated in hospital clusters. Citing an example he said a cluster had been created by arranging special wards in IDH Mulleriyawa, Talanggama, and Vetara hospitals to treat the patients.
The minister accepted that there are instances where two patients occupy one bed. "Providing mosquito nets to hospital beds as patients have refused be under nets when they share beds" he said.
He said more than 700,000 breeding grounds have been found across the island and had been fumigated. (By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)