PM orders neighbourhood campaigns to curb dengue

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has directed the authorities to launch public-address campaigns in neighbourhoods across the country and to raise awareness of dengue prevention through Friday sermons, warning that the coming months will be decisive in containing the outbreak.

Chairing a meeting on dengue prevention and control at the Prime Minister’s Office in the Cabinet Division of the Bangladesh Secretariat on Tuesday (13 October), Mr Tarique stressed the urgency of the situation and urged the relevant agencies to act in a coordinated manner, particularly in areas reporting high infection rates. Furthermore, he underscored the importance of public participation in curbing the disease, instructing officials to make regular announcements in residential areas and to arrange awareness messages during Friday prayers.

Moreover, the meeting emphasised the need to maintain cleanliness in government residential quarters and hospital premises, both of which can become breeding grounds for mosquitoes if neglected. Consequently, the prime minister called for stronger coordination among ministries, divisions and agencies to ensure that preventive measures are implemented effectively, with particular attention to the communities worst affected by the mosquito-borne disease.

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Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain, State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr MA Muhit and State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam were among those present. In addition, the prime minister’s special assistant Dr Shakirul Islam Khan, the administrators of Dhaka South and Dhaka North city corporations, Abdus Salam and Shafiqul Islam Khan Milton respectively, and secretaries and senior officials from the ministries concerned attended to discuss measures to strengthen dengue prevention and control.