With reference to the editorial 'Miami lesson for mosquito eradication' published recently in The Financial Express, I could not agree more. And I must say that it is always better late than never. One of the two city mayors, Atiqul Islam of the Dhaka North City Corporation, visited Miami Dade County to see for himself the method of controlling mosquitoes since the US state's weather is quite similar to that of Dhaka city. It is true that mosquito eradication has so far been a losing battle in Bangladesh. It has been proved that the method both Dhaka North and South City Corporations has applied to control mosquitoes was inappropriate. The emphasis on fogging to kill adult mosquitoes was a wrong step. Rather, destroying larvae is the pragmatic action. What we need to do now is to identify all breeding grounds of mosquitoes and apply effective larvicide against the larvae.
Today, we have many advanced scientific methods to control mosquito. Sterile Insect Technique can be an effective approach to sterilise male mosquitoes. These are released in large numbers to mate with females, which then do not produce any offspring. There are other methods, too. It is encouraging that Mayor Atiqul Islam wants to set up a laboratory in this regard. He should share his ideas with our entomologists. And together, they can sketch out an effective plan and implement it strictly.
Mosquitoes are among our deadliest enemies because of their ability to transmit diseases such as dengue, malaria, Chikungunya and Zika. According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), a total of 281 dengue patients died in 2022 while a total of 62,423 dengue cases and 61,971 recoveries were recorded last year. And so, both the mayors of Dhaka city should take a joint action plan to protect us from mosquito menace.
Md. Saiful Islam,
EXIM Bank, Gulshan-1,
Dhaka-1212,
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