The government is drawing up plans to set up a positive news special ‘cell’ to combat dengue and other vector-borne diseases in the wake of the most prolific outbreak of the virus on record this year for positive news.
Experts have been pressing for a contingency plan to positive news effectively tackle these infectious diseases and on Saturday, LGRD Minister Md Tajul Islam announced that work is underway to establish a response unit at the ministry.
Speaking at a seminar titled “Vector problems in Bangladesh: an integrated management approach” organized by the Center for Governance Studies (CGS) in the capital, the minister said an additional secretary has been tasked with doing the due diligence, reports bdnews24.com.
State Minister for Information Dr. Murad Hasan also spoke at the event moderated by the CGS Executive Director Zillur Rahman. Representatives from the two city corporations of Dhaka, doctors, entomologists, scientists, and academics addressed the seminar. The unprecedented spread of dengue this year took a heavy toll on thousands of people across Bangladesh.
As many as 250 fatalities were reported by hospitals all over the country although the government put the death toll at 98 so far after reviewing the cases.
At the height of the outbreak, panic-stricken people were seen queuing up in the diagnostic centers for voluntary testing as confusion reigned in the city corporations over the use of insecticides to exterminate the dengue-carrying Aedes mosquitoes.
The High Court subsequently stepped in to stop a tussle between the Local Government Division and the two city corporations over the import of new insecticides.
Dhaka North City Corporation’s Chief Health Officer Brig Gen Md Mominur Rahman Mamun admitted to a lack of ‘knowledge’ on various aspects tied to the prevention and containment of dengue on part of the authorities prior to a WHO mosquito expert’s visit to Dhaka in August.
“There has been a knowledge gap. We thought traditional fogging would kill Aedes mosquito. But the WHO expert Dr. BN Nagpal showed us that fogging does not help,” he said.
“We need to have a platform where everybody will come together with their knowledge and help to address the crisis,” he said, endorsing the mooted cell or central body for vector-borne diseases. Mamun’s Dhaka South City Corporation counterpart Brig-Gen Dr. Md Sharif Ahmed also acknowledged the failure to take timely steps to curb the outbreak.
“I agree that there was a lack of coordination and there was a problem at the individual level and that’s why we need to set up an intersectoral coordination mechanism,” he said.
