JAR News Desk

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has directed to strengthen cleanliness and public awareness activities across the country by involving the general public to prevent the spread of dengue. He gave the instructions at a meeting organized at the Bangladesh Secretariat on Sunday to review the dengue situation and determine the steps to be taken. The Prime Minister’s Deputy Press Secretary Hasan Shiplu confirmed the matter to the media.

Urgent need for public involvement alongside government agencies

The Prime Minister said at the meeting that it is not enough to rely solely on government agencies to prevent dengue, but it is important to ensure the active participation of the common people. She urged people to be more aware of keeping their homes and surrounding environment clean, removing stagnant water, regularly cleaning garbage and rubbish, and preventing the creation of mosquito breeding grounds.

The Prime Minister directed that disaster management volunteers, along with BNCC, Rover Scouts and Red Crescent workers, be involved in the cleanliness and awareness activities to further accelerate them. She said that through these volunteers, cleanliness drives should be carried out by involving the common people at the local level.

Increasing medical capacity in hospitals and providing mosquito nets

The meeting gave special importance to increasing the capacity of upazila-level hospitals to provide treatment facilities and patient management for dengue patients. The issue of providing mosquito nets to hospitalized dengue patients to reduce the risk of spreading the infection to others through mosquitoes biting the infected patient was also discussed.

Instructions of utmost importance in prevention

Emphasizing the proper implementation of the decisions taken in the meeting, the Prime Minister said that the reflection of these decisions should be seen at the field level. She directed all the concerned parties to work in a coordinated manner, giving utmost importance to prevention rather than treatment in combating dengue.

Those present at the meeting

Also present at the meeting were Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Dr. Abdul Moin Khan; State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam; State Minister for Health and Family Welfare MA Muhith; Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr. SM Ziauddin Haider; Dhaka South City Corporation Administrator Abdus Salam and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Shakirul Islam Khan, along with secretaries and senior officials of the relevant ministries and departments.