Gerakan Youth today criticised the government for being ineffective in tackling the dengue fever outbreak and for failing to ring the alarm bells early over the outbreak.

The criticism came a day after the Health Ministry revealed that 361 people had died of dengue over the last six years.

It is unfortunate that the Health Ministry or their agencies including government hospitals and private medical practitioners have failed to inform the relevant local authorities and other parties immediately about the outbreak, Gerakan Youth central conmmiittee member S Paranjothy said in a statement today.

He lamented the lack of pre-emptive measures taken by the authorities "as dengue is not something new to us".

"Despite the deaths of hundreds of Malaysians over the years, why is it that only preventive measures were taken whenever there is an outbreak," asked Paranjothy who also chairs the wing's sports and culture committee.

He reminded the health minister that dengue is "unlike the tsunami disaster which is a new problem but that it has been a problem in our country for the past few decades".

"It is the responsibility of the authorities to inform the public of the outbreak and take immediate action to clean and fog the areas affected," he stressed.

'Lack of money'

The youth leader said he was infuriated over the whining by local councils about the 'lack of money' for the limited fogging activities.

"This reason is unacceptable. While we are raising funds to save people in other countries, we can't even save the lives of our own Malaysians," he retorted to malaysiakini when contacted.

He suggested that the extra money collected by various organisations for the tsunami victims be donated to the local authorities to increase the fogging frequencies, particularly in badly affected areas.

Paranjothy also called on the government not to conceal any facts or figures regarding the dengue situation from the people "to protect the tourism industry" as had been the case in the past.

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang today questioned the contradictory figures provided by the ministry on the dengue cases and fatalities during the 2002 dengue epidemic.

Then health minister Chua Jui Meng told Parliament in 2003 that 11,394 dengue cases were reported and 57 dengue deaths were recorded in 2002.

However yesterday, the ministry disease control division director Dr Ramlee Rahmat revealed that 32,767 dengue cases and 99 people had died from dengue in 2002.

Conduct study

Paranjothy also suggested that a local university be given a grant by the government to carry out in-depth research on the dengue menace in order to come out with a solution for the long-term eradication of the disease.

"This study should include the weaknesses of the relevant ministries in not effectively overcoming this problem after so many decades," he noted, adding that other areas that should be looked into should include the social and economic cost the country has to bear due to the dengue outbreak.

Paranjothy also urged the relevant ministries to initiate a nation-wide campaign on dengue and to educate and inform the people, particularly schoolchildren, of the danger of the disease.