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It is heartening to note that the National Biosafety Committee after several months of deliberations has finally approved the Health Ministry's application to undertake the field trial using genetically modified mosquitoes to suppress the dengue vector population.

I am sure members of the National Biosafety Committee comprising of eminent scientists and experts from various science based disciplines in the country, would have meticulously and cautiously scrutinised the application from the IMR-Oxford scientists before approving the limited trial.

The assurance by the director general of health Ismail Merican recently in the media, that the trial is safe and will be conducted in accordance to the NBC guidelines and supervision should alleviate any unwanted fears among certain quarters.

Furthermore the Academy of Sciences and the World Health Organisation is looking at the trial positively and are hoping that it will bring about a breakthrough in the control of the deadly disease.

According to MHO statistics for the end of October this year alone we have recorded more than 118 people dead (more than 60 percent increase compared to last year) and about 50,000 people have been sickened by the mosquito borne virus in the country (MOH Website).

All the efforts and money spent to control the Aedes population over the years by the authorities unfortunately have not been very successful.

We cannot sit back and watch dengue rampaging through the population without any sign of retreating. Dengue is not only a major health threat to the public but it is now a global threat to humanity.

In this context its timely and appropriate for the government to approve the field trail. The trial is reported to be safely designed to suppress the Aedes mosquito population thus there is no need to fear of any negative implications to the environment or the public.

I hope the government will stand firm on its decision and not backtrack due to the pressure of certain NGOs call to stop the trial.

Those who are against this novel trial should first pay a visit to families of those who have lost their loved ones due to dengue and the hundreds of thousands who have miraculously survived the infection.

Perhaps they should also talk to the clinicians who have been treating dengue patients to understand what a devastating and debilitating disease we are facing.

Ask the doctors who have attended to some of these dengue patients of their frustration and despair for not been able to save dengue patients despite their best efforts, with all the modern medical knowledge and facilities available.

The research mission of the Health Ministry is a noble one - that is to find a solution and a cure to the scourge of dengue and save hundreds of lives.

If the government were to stop this trial due to the pressure of certain anti-GMO groups it will be indeed a sad development.

The government will be setting a precedent and there will be no stopping of these so called anti- GMO groups and other fear mongers to subject the authorities to all sorts of pressure and threats in the near future.

What is at stake here is public health and the future of good science. The government should stand firm on its decision as this will augur well for the progress and development of medical science and technology in this country.

If man had feared the unknown in the past he would not have landed on moon and returned to earth safely.

Fear and ignorance is a stumbling block to any young nation which is aspiring to be recognised as a developed nation worldwide. Let there be light.

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