“We’ve launched our operations last week, and we’re gradually expanding the project to cover all the densely populated areas, including slums that are prone to an outbreak,” Salman Khan Yeasin, manager of the Bidyanondo Foundation, said on Sunday.

He said they started the anti-dengue campaign by spraying insecticides in Dhaka Medical College Hospital areas,  Railway colony in Shahjahanpur and Jinjira in Keraniganj last week.

Insecticides have also been sprayed in Jatrabari, Kamlapur, Khilgaon and Mugda General Hospital areas, Salman said adding that the volunteers sprayed that in Mohammadpur area today (Sunday). 

Gathered experience from last year’s outbreak of dengue when over 100,000 people were hospitalised across the country with 164 deaths, the Bidyanondo Foundation expanded its campaign in other parts of the city, he said.

Salman said they are using their own fogger machines to spray the insecticides to kill the mosquitoes but would start targeting the breeding grounds, too. “Our primary targets are all the hospital areas and the slums. These places are very vulnerable. But we are ready to work also in other areas in coordination with city corporations so that we can successfully conduct the campaign this time.”

He said they have prepared a roadmap for the maximum output from their efforts and engaged their volunteers to identify the breeding grounds and vulnerable areas, said a press release.

“This year some 307 dengue cases have been reported. Experts have suggested that there is nothing to be complacent with the lower number of cases because there has been a smaller number of reported cases for the coronavirus pandemic. Many people possibly are not coming to hospitals and reporting dengue cases,” Salman said.

He said they were working to build awareness among the city residents and slum dwellers as it is impossible to fight the menace without their engagement.