A consignment of 10,000 bottles of much awaited Cuban biolarvicide BTI (Bacillus Thuringiensis Israelensis) reached the Colombo harbour yesterday and the Health Ministry is to utilize them in the dengue prevention campaign in all MOH divisions in the Kandy District as a pilot project. According to Health Ministry spokesman, the Cuban BTI bacteria would be used in dengue control activities in other districts too on the success of the pilot project. A high level meeting is to be held at the Ministry today to discuss on what quantity this bacteria should be utilized in the Kandy district initially.

The Colombo Plan will provide capacity-building training in both drug demand and supply reduction for its 26 member countries in the Asia-Pacific region under its Drug Advisory Program in 1973 in the region to address the drug abuse. Colombo Plan General Secretary Patricia Yoon Moi Chia said that responding to the needs of the region, the Colombo Plan will be implementing eight regional and in country training programs from September to December.

Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena has decided to introduce a Public Health Insurance Scheme. The policy will be presented to Parliament next year, a Ministry spokesman said. Public organisations and individuals can present proposals, ideas and concepts during the next four months in connection with the proposed Public Health Insurance Scheme, he said. The scheme will be formulated especially for the benefit of the rural poor. It will also assist the public when obtaining medical treatment from the private sector.

A new superbug that appears resistant to even the strongest of antibiotics has emerged in India and soon could spread worldwide, according to an article published Wednesday in The Lancet medical journal.British scientists have discovered the NDM-1 gene, or New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1, in 180 people in India, Pakistan and the U.K. Of those, 37 were patients who had returned to the U.K.