Lebak Health Office urges residents to maintain environmental cleanliness to prevent disease

The Health Office (Dinkes) of Lebak Regency, Banten, is urging the public to actively maintain environmental cleanliness as a primary measure to prevent the spread of various diseases.

Lebak Dinkes Secretary Endang Komarudin stated on Friday that the office is optimising counselling and education activities for the community to prevent the spread of dangerous communicable diseases. The socialisation and education activities are centred at a number of health facilities, such as community health centres (puskesmas), auxiliary health centres (pustu), village health posts (poskesdes), and clinics.

“We hope that through this socialisation and education, the community will become more aware, because the potential for the spread of communicable diseases arises from unclean environmental conditions,” he explained.

Accordingly, the office is asking the community to carry out mutual cooperation activities for mosquito nest eradication (PSN) through the 3M movement, namely draining, covering, and recycling. In addition, each family is expected to prepare two people as cadres for Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae monitors (jumantik).

The PSN 3M and jumantik activities are considered capable of breaking the chain of transmission of dengue haemorrhagic fever (DBD) and chikungunya.

The public is also urged not to defecate in open areas, which could potentially trigger diarrhoeal disease attacks. Likewise, the community is expected to consistently implement Clean and Healthy Living Behaviour (PHBS).

Furthermore, the office is asking the public to consume nutritious foods such as fruits and vegetables, and to maintain body stamina by getting plenty of rest.

“We believe that if the community maintains environmental cleanliness and PHBS is implemented, residents will certainly be free from the spread of diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections (ISPA), pneumonia, and influenza or flu,” Endang said.