Dengue must be prevented immediately

EditorialProthom Alo illustration

There is growing public concern over the outbreak of dengue in Dhaka, Chattogram and other places of the country amid the alarming spread of coronavirus. However, the city corporation does not seem to be taking any effective or sustainable measures in this regard. They are apparently more interested in publicity than taking actual measures.

According to the Directorate General Health Services (DGHS), from 8:00 Sunday morning till 8:00 Monday morning, 237 dengue patients were admitted to hospital, 218 of them in Dhaka alone. From 1 January till yesterday, Sunday, there were 2,895 dengue patients. Four of them died, it has been reported. But DGHS only gets information about those who are admitted to hospital. There is no way to know about those admitted to private clinics and those being treated at home with the symptoms. That indicates the number of dengue patients is actually much higher than on record.

Prior to 2020, we were not familiar with Covid-19 or coronavirus. That is why the health department, physicians, nurses and health workers had quite a struggle. As this was infectious, the people were alarmed. But this complacence concerning dengue is totally unacceptable.

It is during monsoon that dengue breaks out, basically through the Aedes mosquito. These mosquitoes breed in various bodies of water including the dirty water that gathers around houses, offices and by the roads. So the first and foremost task to prevent dengue is to destroy the breeding grounds of the Aedes mosquito. Other than keeping the surroundings of buildings and roads clean, insecticide must also be regularly sprayed to prevent further breeding of the mosquitoes. Dhaka is at the bottom ranks of the livability index. The surroundings of most buildings are squalid and dirty and so mosquitoes easily breed there.

The two city corporations of Dhaka took no measures before the outbreak of dengue. They began the cleanliness drive only after the increase in Aedes mosquitoes. Now no matter how much the two mayors make a show of destroying mosquitoes, this is not an easy task. Many councilors have expressed their ignorance about the Dhaka North mayor’s ‘Saturday morning 10:10am cleanliness drive’. They say they hadn’t heard this call issued by the mayor. Why will they have to hear his call? It is the councilors who are responsible to check whether their localities are clean. If necessary, they can approach the mayor and the city corporation for help.

The citizens must be conscious too. It is their duty to keep their homes and surroundings clean. If we carry out our own responsibilities, we can tell others to carry out theirs. We can’t put others into danger due to our own carelessness. If we do not want a repeat of 2019, then the cleanliness drive must be made successful by involving everyone from the city corporations and local representatives to the entire community, particularly the youth. Showy campaigns can create complacence, not prevent the spread of dengue. Cleaning the city is not a one-day or two-day task, it must continue for 365 days a year