A communication campaign to raise awareness about dengue prevention waslaunched yesterday by the Vietnam Health Environment Management Agency(VIHEMA), in collaboration with the Enesis Group.

During thethree-month campaign, communication programmes, including posters, TVclips and print articles, will disseminate information and measures toprevent dengue fever and dengue outbreaks during the rainy season.

"Like a few other Southeast Asian countries, Vietnam is highlysusceptible to dengue fever, especially in the Mekong Delta," VIHEMADeputy Director Nguyen Thi Lien Huong said.

"It iscritical that every person knows how to protect himself, simply bydestroying mosquito-breeding habitats, ensuring good sanitation for theliving environment and using mosquito-repellents such as lotions orsprays on a daily basis," Huong said.

VIHEMA willalso provide 50,000 mosquito-repellent sachets to residents of Hanoi, HoChi Minh City and nine Mekong Delta provinces with a high prevalence ofdengue fever, including Can Tho, Hau Giang, Ca Mau and Soc Trang, aswell as An Giang, Tra Vinh and Vinh Long.

Statistics fromthe health ministry said Vietnam reported 8,320 dengue fever cases inthe first three months of 2015. In the southern region, new dengue fevercases have increased by more than 35 percent compared to the sameperiod last year.-VNA