Editorial
Launch massive campaign to prevent it
Officials from the directorate of health are raising the alarm on a spike of dengue cases in the city. According to official data, there have been 6,479 cases since January which is three times the number a year before. The threat has evolved into type 2 and type 3, which means that with the advent of new varieties of dengue virus, the risk of infection has also multiplied. Experts are calling it “cross-infection” where a patient may be bitten multiple times and that increases the fatality levels for patients.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) that carried out another survey from July 31 to August 9 found that 66 percent areas under Dhaka North City Corporation and 61 percent areas of Dhaka South City Corporation are “risky”. While it is very easy to point the finger at the two city corporations for not doing enough, we have to agree that residents also need to keep their homes and surrounding areas clean and dry—so that breeding grounds for this deadly mosquito are curtailed.
Of course this will not be easy. The bulk of Dhaka's population come from rural areas and residents are lacking in knowledge about the necessity of a clean environs. The authorities need to partner with both print and electronic media to launch a massive public awareness-raising campaign. Local community organisations, both NGOs and voluntary organisations, need to be mobilised to take the message to the people that unless they clean up their homesteads, the Aedes mosquito menace cannot be combated effectively. The two city corporations need to increase their budgets to clean the water bodies in the city too. If we are to stop this very real public health hazard, everyone must pitch in.
- Courtesy: The Daily Star / Oct 07, 2018
No comments:
Post a Comment