By Ms. Men Neary Sopheak, Director of the Communications Department Photos by Mr. Huot Cheng Chhay, Head of Public Relations. Dated 15 August 2005

Talk show on Denger Fever

“An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure” . This is a saying of Professor My Samedy, Secretary General of the Cambodian Red Cross, on 15 August, at an opening of a community combat against DHF in Chambak primary school, Samrong Torng district of Kg. Speu province, 40 km West of Phnom Penh. . “Dengue virus is transmitted by the bite of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, breeding in stagnant waters in jars or containers, coconut shells, used tyres, ponds and swampy land", said the CRC Secretary General, to 600 attendants of an official campaign launched jointly by the Cambodian Red Cross and the Ministry of Health with the funding support from the New Zealand Red Cross through the Federation Cambodia Representative.

“There are no antibiotics nor vaccines for dengue treatment and patients who have dengue virus are exposed to high mortality risk. The best treatment therefore is prevention.” underlined His Excellency Mam Bun Heng, Secretary of State of Ministry of Health at the campaign.

The Cambodian Red Cross campaign activities started on 01st August and will end up on 31st September. Samrong Tong district of Kg. Speu province is the highest hit areas among other provinces hit by DHF outbreak in Cambodia. The currently hit provinces are Kompong Thom, Kompong Speu, Banteay Meanchey, Battambang and Pursat.

133 trained and dedicated Red Cross Volunteers of the Samrong Tong district will go from door to door to meet and give educative messages to 25’115 families of 133’364 peoples in the 15 communes of the district. Each volunteer commits to reach 20 households per day. These volunteers are provided with guidelines to ensure that their work is systematic and well coordinated. All volunteers also carry posters and brochures with simple messages and illustrations that can be clearly understood by their target audience.

“Our volunteers are doing a “door to door” campaign for closer and more effective communication especially with mothers and their children below 12 years old who are our main target groups. This enables our volunteers to see and personally check if the household water containers are clean and properly covered.”

“This also makes our villagers feel they are important to us, that we are truly concerned because our volunteers really take time and get out of their way to look after their health,” says Mr. Hum Sophon, the Director of the Program Department of the Cambodian Red Cross.

Mr. Scott Simmons, Federation Representative, says the outbreaks of dengue cases in a number of countries in Asia including Cambodia have become a concern of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. He adds that dengue virus has seasonal and cyclical epidemic patterns with major outbreaks occurring usually in three year intervals.

Key messages on DHF prevention were given on the same day of 15th August by guest speakers of the televised round table on DHF fighting campaign. Mr. Hum Sophon, Director of the Program Department of the Cambodian Red Cross, Dr. Ngan Chantha, Director of the National Malaria Center, and Dr. Yith Sunnara, pediatric hospital, jointly voiced their appeal to people from all walks of life to be aware of the outbreak and inviting people to take active part in the HDF fight and prevention by:

             - Bring the children to the nearest health center, if they have fever;
             - Clean the jar or water containers at least once a week;
             - Burn all the rubbish, old tyres, coconut shells, tin, etc.. to eliminate mosquito breeding;
             - Sleep only in mosquito nets;

Dr. Ngan Chantha, director of the National Dengue Control Program of the Cambodian Ministry of Health, says people are more vulnerable to dengue fever because of poverty and lack of knowledge/information about the basic health requirements. The health information drive of the Red Cross and the full participation of the community have helped much in improving the health situation in the country, says Dr. Yith Sunnara.

“But still, much more has to be done. Dengue and other health related hazards continue to pose a threat to our people, particularly those in remote and depressed areas. Education must be a continuing process. We must be patient in keeping our poor people informed so that they, too, can live a happy and healthy life,” Dr. Ngan Chanta concludes.

Since 2002, the New Zealand Red Cross contributed significantly to the successful information and education drive launched by the CRC in coordination with the Federation and in partnership with the National Malaria Centre (CNM) and the World Health Organization (WHO), both of which are still active partners of the Red Cross. It is highly expected that the joint combat will help reducing the number of deaths and affected cases.