According to the front page report of The Sun (Jan 30) the Health Ministry acknowledged that there were four types of dengue, Malaysia had experienced many cases of types o­ne and two in recent years but that we were now confronted with the type three of dengue "which has not been with us for a long time and is more virulent".

However the director-general of health Dr Mohamad Taha Ariff added the astounding remark that it was not necessary for the ministry to reveal the figures, nor the public to know the details as long as they made sure that their surroundings were clean, and that the public did not have the right to know the seriousness of the dengue outbreak.

We, as concerned citizens, are appalled by the Health Ministry's outrageous stance.

We do not understand why we elect representatives to Parliament, who upon being made the health minister, could direct the main official such as the director-general not to disclose with transparency an outbreak of a serious disease that could threaten anyone or everyone.

We certainly have the right to know the true facts as to the extent of the outbreak and areas of its prevalence to take the appropriate personal measures. We also have the right to know how the government proposes to monitor the disease, commission or coordinate local government and foreign specialist help to contain this outbreak.

We simply cannot understand how the director-general can say that we have no right to know when it concerns our health and lives especially of our younger children who are more vulnerable. We do not understand why the government can arrogate itself the right not to tell. Failing to deliver health information messages could be lethal in a real emergency.

Sure we understand the other side of the argument that public panic does not help especially in cases of very infectious diseases with no vaccine where for example people may flee from the places of viral attack, carrying the virus and spreading it to new areas. And those who have the virus may also suffer more because their vaccinations may be delayed as they travel to new places.

But this is not the scenario in the case of dengue, which is not infectious in the sense that humans carry it but it is carried by the vector of the aedes mosquito for which there is also no vaccine.

No disclosure may also be construed as the officials try to shield themselves from public criticism of having done nothing adequate to contain or mitigate the outbreak, and hence protecting their own incompetence which if it were the case, the public certainly deserve to know and demand accountability as to why taxpayers' money is used to maintain and pay the salaries of such incompetent officials.

We think that if the director-general cannot discharge this basic official duty of telling the public the unvarnished facts, he should better resign and let some o­ne else more conscious of his fiduciary responsibility of office to take over.