Dengue fever continues to be a major public health problem in Malaysia,with significant impact on children. Health education is a major means for prevention and control of the National Dengue Control Program , and is delivered to communities and in schools.. Community health education is provided through health centre outreach activities and campaigns . We suggest the need for sustained routine education for dengue prevention and control, and the need for approaches to ensure the translation of knowledge into practice.
Health education is essential for the control of diseases such as dengue, ensuring that community members understand the mechanisms of infection and the key behaviours or activities that need to be addressed to prevent transmission, reduce severe disease and avoid fatalities. In our country, health education for dengue control is provided in primary and secondary schools, at village health centres and by the National Dengue Control Program. However, these educational programs are accorded low priority, strategies and materials are not evaluated on a routine basis, messages are sometimes confusing, and health staff and teachers lack the training, time and opportunities to deliver educational messages. Recommendations to villages are not always practical or effective in preventing mosquito bites, and funds are not available to provide new educational materials. While school children and their parents therefore have some familiarity with the behaviour and habitat of the aedes mosquito and the environmental factors that contribute to dengue fever, their knowledge is uneven and knowledge is rarely translated to reduce the risk of infection. Community involvement in the prevention and control of dengue is essential, but will not be effective while health education is poorly resourced and irregular and lessons on prevention do not result in action.
juang julang juara
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