Prioritise dengue preventive measures, says Najib

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak wants the people to prioritise preventive measures on the spread of dengue fever.

Najib, in his Facebook account's update today, also suggested that outdoor activities be minimised, during dawn from 5.30 am to 8 am and during dusk (from 5.30pm to 8pm) which was the active period for mosquitoes to bite.

"Like the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. As we all know, there is no specific medicine to cure patients of dengue fever.

"Preventive measures need to be prioritised, among others to ensure we are always prepared with mosquitoes repellant and reduce activities during the time when mosquitoes are most active at dawn and dusk," he said.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam had earlier announced 85 deaths caused by dengue were recorded from January to June 28 this year nationwide compared to 27 deaths during the same period in 2013.

It was an increase of 215 per cent or a total of 58 deaths compared to the previous year.