Staff Reporter:
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will formally inaugurate the “Nationwide Dengue Prevention and Cleanliness Campaign 2026” on September 12 to further strengthen cleanliness activities aimed at preventing dengue.
State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Mir Shahe Alam said this at a press conference held at the Secretariat yesterday, adding that the Prime Minister will in-augurate the campaign from the South Plaza of Jatiya Sangsad on September 12 at 9:00 am.
He said the three-month campaign, from September 12 to December 12, will be conducted as den-gue prevalence typically peaks in September, October and November, when the breeding of Aedes mosquitoes increases.
Stakeholders from all 64 districts and 503 upazilas of the country will join the event through vide-oconferencing, he said.
Therefore, alongside medical treatment, the utmost importance is being placed on disease preven-tion and the destruction of Aedes mosquito breeding grounds to contain dengue outbreaks, he said.
Shahe Alam said the Prime Minister recently presided over a meeting on dengue prevention and necessary measures.
Ministers, secretaries and additional secretaries from various ministries, as well as directors-general of relevant departments, attended the meeting, he said.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister directed that greater emphasis must be placed on preven-tion rather than just treatment of dengue patients, he said.
Specific instructions were given to focus on preventing the breeding of Aedes mosquito larvae and maintaining clean surroundings, he said.
He said 137 people have died from dengue across the country as of September 7 this year. During this period, around 2,700 to 2,800 patients were hospitalized, received treatment or are currently undergoing treatment, he said.
Through this program, he said, cleanliness drives will be conducted at the city, upazila, union and municipality levels, alongside the destruction of Aedes mosquito breeding grounds.
The state minister said Scouts, BNCC, disaster management volunteers, students and volunteers from educational institutions, the Red Crescent, Rovers, BD Clean and sanitation workers from the two city corporations will participate in the program.
He said the initiative will be carried out simultaneously across the country through the administra-tions of 64 districts and, at the upazila level, through Upazila Nirbahi Officers (UNOs) and Upazila Parishads.
Shahe Alam said arrangements will be made to broadcast the Prime Minister’s inaugural address live at both district and upazila levels.
The state minister said the national-level committee is led by the Administrator of Dhaka South City Corporation, Freedom Fighter Abdus Salam, as Convener, and the Administrator of Dhaka North City Corporation, Shafiqul Islam Milton, as Joint Convener.
The committee includes representatives from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Cabinet Division, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the Ministry of Disaster Man-agement and Relief, as well as the Director General of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Ed-ucation, the Director General of BNCC, the Secretary General of the Red Crescent, the Executive Director of the Scouts, and the chief engineers, chief health officers, waste management officers and chief executive officers of both city corporations.
Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary A B M Abdus Sattar has been appointed as the committee’s adviser.
