North West CDC steps up anti-dengue awareness campaign for June holidays

With some families planning to spend the June holidays overseas, the North West Community Development Council (CDC) is stepping up its preventive measures against dengue. It has launched an initiative called Mozzie-Free Homes and is working with five travel agencies, schools and grassroots organisations.

Travel agencies will send out travel advisories and dengue kits, and provide dengue-prevention reminders to customers. Schools in the district will send additional travel advisories to parents planning to travel during the holidays, while grassroots organisations will participate in outreach programmes to residents through events and house visits.

Since the start of the year, over 7,000 cases of dengue have been reported - a record high for Singapore. In the north-west district alone, close to 700 cases have been reported from January (as of May 16). This is compared to the 184 cases reported in the same period in 2012.

With the rise of temperatures over the months of May to July, it is expected that the situation may get worse with mosquitoes breeding at a faster rate.

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