Health Minister: Anti-mosquito wall paint latest tool to fight dengue

SHAH ALAM: An anti-mosquito wall paint is to become the latest tool to reduce the number of dengue cases in the country, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said today.

The paint, mixed with the insecticide deltamethrin, is a product of research conducted by the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) and can kill mosquitoes that come into contact with walls coated with it, he said.

"IMR has scientific proof on the effectiveness of this anti-mosquito wall paint and the ministry has held discussions with the company keen to produce the paint," he told reporters after a visit to several houses in Section 7, a dengue hotspot, here.

Subramaniam said the paint was expected to be in the market by July.

He also said that the ministry would apply the outdoor residual spray (OPS) approach that could reduce dengue cases by up to 95%.
"The spray applied once on the external walls of buildings remains effective for three months," he said.

The minister said the other approaches to fight the dengue menace included fogging indoors and keeping the surroundings clean.

Subramaniam said the ministry found 95 of the 111 construction sites inspected this year to be breeding grounds for the Aedes mosquito, carrier of the dengue virus.

He said the contractors would be prosecuted.

This year up to March 21, a total of 30,890 dengue cases with 98 deaths were recorded, up from the 21,967 cases with 54 deaths during the corresponding period last year, he said. – Bernama