A worker fumigates a residential area. (Photo: VNA)
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has issued Dispatch No. 116/CD-TTg, urging strengthened nationwide efforts to prevent and control dengue fever amid rising infections.
The document highlights that dengue is an acute infectious disease. Since early 2025, infections have been reported in all provinces and cities, with the southern region seeing a 30% increase compared to the same period in 2024, including multiple fatalities. With the peak transmission season underway and major national events and the new school year approaching, the risk of wider outbreaks remains high.
To contain the spread and avoid large-scale transmission, the Prime Minister instructs the chairpersons of provincial and municipal People’s Committees to strongly implement dengue prevention measures. These actions must continue without interruption during the transition to the new two-tier local government system. Localities’ leaders will be held accountable for disease prevention outcomes.
Relevant authorities are directed to mobilise all departments, sectors, unions, and socio-political organisations in raising public awareness and conducting environmental sanitation campaigns. These include eliminating mosquito breeding grounds and promoting the Ministry of Health's guidelines. Inspections and penalties for non-compliance are to be increased.
Health departments and medical facilities are to coordinate with commune-level authorities to monitor the disease situation, detect cases early, and ensure timely treatment. Localities must allocate adequate resources for outbreak containment and emergency care to minimise fatalities.
The Ministry of Health is tasked with directing, guiding, and inspecting disease monitoring and control efforts, ensuring the availability of treatment resources, and providing technical training for grassroots medical staff. It must also coordinate hospital referrals to avoid overloading at higher-level facilities.
The ministry is set to work with other agencies to ensure disease control efforts remain uninterrupted during the apparatus restructuring.
The ministries of culture, sports and tourism; education and training; national defence; public security; and finance are instructed to support prevention efforts within their mandates. This includes ensuring timely funding, supporting sanitation activities in schools, and coordinating control measures with local authorities.
National media agencies, including Vietnam Television, Voice of Vietnam, and the Vietnam News Agency, are requested to collaborate with the Ministry of Health in disseminating timely and accurate information to guide public response and encourage early medical consultation.
The Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member organisations are told to engage actively with authorities at all levels to mobilise community participation in line with the health sector's guidelines./.
VNA