Prime Minister Tareque Rahman will launch a three-month special campaign against dengue. The three-month cleanliness and public-awareness program to prevent dengue will begin with the prime minister’s inauguration on Sept. 12.
Considering the coming three months a high-risk period for dengue, Prime Minister Tareque Rahman has called on the public to actively take part in this program.
The prime minister gave the instructions Tuesday afternoon at a meeting held at the Bangladesh Secretariat on measures needed to prevent dengue.
Deputy press secretary to the prime minister, Hasan Shiplu, shared the information.
He said the prime minister told the meeting that controlling dengue cannot rely on mosquito-eradication activities alone; special emphasis must also be placed on cleanliness and public awareness. He said local administrations, volunteer organizations and students must be involved to carry out coordinated field-level activities.
Under the program, the relevant city corporations will coordinate activities in metropolitan areas, and deputy commissioners at the district level. At the upazila level, upazila executive officers (UNOs) will be responsible for coordinating local activities.
The deputy press secretary said the cleanliness and awareness campaign will involve volunteers from the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, along with Scouts, the Bangladesh National Cadet Corps (BNCC), Girl Guides, Bangladesh Red Crescent Society volunteers, and school and college students.
Every Saturday, volunteers and students will visit various homes and establishments to take part in cleanliness activities. Emphasis will also be placed on identifying sites where the dengue-carrying Aedes mosquito could breed, and on raising public awareness about keeping homes and surrounding areas clean.
Hasan Shiplu said Prime Minister Tareque Rahman has also directed extensive publicity through mainstream and social media, alongside the field-level cleanliness campaign. He has specifically asked relevant officials to run public-awareness programming on television and regularly share dengue-prevention messages on social media.
The prime minister said the coming three months are critical for the dengue situation, and that active public participation must be ensured alongside government initiatives during this period. People must be encouraged to keep their homes, educational institutions, government and private establishments, and surrounding areas clean on a regular basis. The meeting was attended by Disaster Management and Relief Minister Asadul Habib Dulu, Information and Broadcasting Minister Barrister Andaleeve Rahman Partho, State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam, State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr. M.A. Muhit, State Minister for Information Yasser Khan Chowdhury, the prime minister’s special assistant for health Dr. S.M. Ziauddin Hyder, Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Gani, the prime minister’s principal secretary A.B.M. Abdus Sattar, the prime minister’s special assistant Dr. Shakirul Islam Khan, Dhaka South City Corporation administrator Abdus Salam, Information Secretary Mahbuba Farzana, and other senior officials from relevant ministries and divisions.