Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will inaugurate a three-month special nationwide campaign against dengue on Saturday, focusing on cleanliness and public awareness to prevent the spread of the mosquito-borne disease.
The decision to launch the campaign was taken following the Prime Minister’s directive at a meeting on dengue prevention at Secretariat, said his Deputy Press Secretary Hasan Shiplu.
Tarique said the next three months should be treated as a high-risk period for dengue and stressed the need to focus on cleanliness and public awareness alongside mosquito-control measures.
The Prime Minister said dengue cannot be effectively contained through mosquito-control measures alone and stressed the importance of raising public awareness and keeping homes and their surroundings clean.
He directed the authorities to conduct coordinated field-level activities involving local administrations, voluntary organisations and students.
Under the campaign, city corporations will coordinate activities in metropolitan areas, deputy commissioners(DCs) will oversee the drives at the district level while upazila nirbahi officers (UNOs) will coordinate activities at the upazila level.
Volunteers from the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, scouts, Bangladesh National Cadet Corps (BNCC), Girl Guides, Bangladesh Red Crescent Society and school and college students will participate in the cleanliness and awareness drives.
Every Saturday, volunteers and students will visit homes and other establishments to take part in cleaning activities.
They will also identify potential breeding grounds for Aedes mosquitoes and raise awareness among residents about keeping their homes and surroundings clean.
Tarique also directed the authorities to conduct extensive dengue awareness campaigns through the mass media and social media, with particular emphasis on television advertisements and regular dissemination of dengue prevention messages online.
Disaster Management and Relief Minister Asadul Habib Dulu, Information and Broadcasting Minister Andalib Rahman Partha, State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam, State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr MA Muhit, State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Yasser Khan Chowdhury, Prime Minister's Health Affairs Special Assistant Dr SM Ziauddin Haider, Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani, Prime Minister's Principal Secretary ABM Abdus Sattar, Prime Minister's Special Assistant Dr Shakirul Islam Khan, Dhaka South City Corporation Administrator Abdus Salam and Information Secretary Mahbuba Farzana, among senior officials, attended the meeting.