UN expert team to help Bangladesh tackle Aedes mosquitoes

United Nations
United Nations

A joint expert team of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Health Organisation (WHO) of the United Nation will assess the feasibility of Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) in controlling Aedes mosquitoes in Bangladesh, reports UNB.

To tackle the diseases caused by Aedes mosquitoes, the joint IAEA-FAO-WHO expert team will visit Bangladesh between 21 and 23 August, said the foreign ministry on Tuesday.

The sterile insect technique is an environmentally-friendly insect pest control method involving the mass-rearing and sterilization, using radiation, of a target pest, followed by the systematic area-wide release of the sterile males by air over defined areas, where they mate with wild females resulting in no offspring and a declining pest population.

IAEA has approved the expert mission following an initiative taken by Bangladesh embassy and permanent mission in Vienna, with the support of Directorate General of Health Services, the health and family welfare ministry, the science and technology ministry after the dengue fever outbreak in the country.

The work of the expert team - consisting of Rafael Argiles Herrero and Danilo de Oliveira Carvalho, technical officers of the Insect Pest Control Section at the joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, and Rajpal Yadav, scientist, Vector Ecology and Management, Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, WHO - is expected to help Bangladesh in successfully tackling the diseases caused by the Aedes mosquito population in the country.

"We're trying to avail best possible scientific know-how to tackle the Aedes mosquito. We thank IAEA for prompt response to support Bangladesh in this time of need," said M Abu Zafar, ambassador and permanent representative of Bangladesh in Vienna.