VietNamNet Bridge – US oil company Chevron has announced a Summer Anti-Dengue Campaign to control the spread of the disease in a Mekong Delta locality.

Chevron Vietnam and the delta-based Can Tho University (CTU) launched the campaign in Hau Giang Province's Hoa An Commune on July 1.

"The campaign aims at raising people's awareness of dengue fever and its prevention by eliminating the mosquitoes' breeding habitats," Andrew Latham, president of Chevron Vietnam, said.

The programme will be implemented across the commune which has 14 hamlets and 3,500 households.

Local authorities have selected volunteers from each hamlet to participate in the programme.

CTU professors will hold dengue fever awareness training workshops for volunteers, students, and teachers in six elementary schools and high schools in the area.

These volunteers will, in turn, disseminate their knowledge to the community and their families and neighbours.

For the programme, 55 teams, each with a volunteer, a teacher and up to four students, will head out to the commune. Each team will inspect eight to 20 houses, checking inside and outside for mosquitoes and their larvae in stagnant water.

People will be advised to clean up the area around their houses, getting rid of scraps like old tyres, and clean or change the water in flowerpots and trays. They will also be reminded to sleep in mosquito nets even during the day to avoid being bitten.

An effective measure the project will recommend is to breed fish to eliminate larvae.

Chevron Vietnam's other campaigns include an education reform programme to help apply school knowledge to real life and perform tasks like fermenting organic fertilisers for vegetables; a micro-finance scheme to help poor farmers raise pigs and use bio-gas.

(Source: Viet Nam News)