Staff Reporter:
Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (LGRD) Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Ala-mgir yesterday directed all relevant institutions to work in a coordinated manner to prevent dengue.
Not only government initiatives but also people’s awareness and active participation are very important in fighting dengue, he said, directing the relevant government and private institutions including city cor-porations, municipalities, district councils under the ministry to perform their duties more effectively.
His directive came at the first meeting of the National Committee on Prevention of Dengue and Other Mosquito-Borne Diseases held at the conference room of the Local Government Division at the Secretar-iat.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, also Secretary General of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), chaired the meeting where State Minister for LGRD Mir Shahe Alam was also present.
At the meeting, a special taskforce under the supervision of State Minister for LGRD was formed to fur-ther strengthen dengue prevention and response activities.
The taskforce will be responsible for monitoring field-level activities, providing necessary directives, enhancing coordination among different agencies and implementing emergency measures.
The meeting adopted several important decisions to prevent dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases. These include large-scale distribution of leaflets and awareness materials through various offices and agencies, conducting special dengue awareness campaigns at schools, colleges and madrasas involving teachers, students and guardians, and strengthening cleanliness drives through coordination among local administrations, public representatives and civil society.
The decisions also include regularly testing and monitoring the quality of fogger machines and mosquito control operations, conducting special drives to identify and destroy Aedes mosquito breeding grounds, and increasing inspections of under-construction buildings, rooftop gardens, tyre shops, garages and wa-terlogged areas.
In addition, the meeting decided to intensify awareness campaigns through mass media and social media, strengthen monitoring and supervision activities related to dengue prevention, and rapidly collect and analyse information on dengue patients to identify risk-prone areas and take necessary measures.
Speakers at the meeting said integrated and vigorous preparations are essential from now on as there is a possibility of an increase in dengue infections during the monsoon season.
They stressed the need for speedy implementation of the decisions taken by the national committee, ac-celeration of field-level activities and ensuring the required manpower.
Representatives of different ministries, agencies and city corporations attended the meeting. Senior offi-cials of the Local Government Division as well as representatives from Dhaka University, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, WASA, LGED, DPHE and RAJUK also participated.
