The Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) yesterday launched a campaign to eradicate dengue which has reached dangerous proportions in the City. The campaign is mainly aimed at creating awareness about the disease and prosecuting action on those who have failed to comply with the CMC's request to keep their premises clean. CMC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam said there is a 95% increase of dengue patients in Colombo presently while the number of patients admitted to hospital has reached 18 by this month. He said three deaths have been reported from the Colombo City this year up to now while there had been only three deaths for the whole of last year. It has been school children who have been mostly infected with the disease in the city according to him. "Rains expected when the South West Monsoon becomes active may aggravate the situation,' he said. However he was confident that the awareness campaign launched by the CMC would avert a major epidemic repeating the success in the past years. He said one third of the Colombo population was affected by dengue in 2006 and the incidence has been reduced to 5% last year thanks to the awareness programme. He claimed that many countries have begun to adopt the CMC's Dengue eradication programme as a role model. Dr. Kariyawasam called on the public health inspectors to do their job in an effective manner adding that missing of one polluted spot would result in at least 15 cases. Over 100 groups comprising two public health inspectors each were deployed in the City Colombo yesterday to create awareness among the public and to take legal action against the owners of those premises with mosquito breeding grounds.