Till Saturday, October 19, this month, 78 people have died of dengue fever, while the total number of dengue-related fatalities so far reached 241, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Meanwhile, 1,121 have been hospitalised with dengue, while some 15,000 have been infected with the vector-borne disease across the country. On the other hand, last month, 80 people died of dengue and 18,000 people had the fever.
Clearly, this October, the rate of dengue infection is higher than that of last month. Given the persistent rainfall, standing water, which is the breeding ground of dengue vector, the aedes aegypti mosquito, is going to help increase the number of the aedes mosquito and that of infected people in the coming months.
Notably, 2023 was the deadliest year in the last two decades so far as incidence of dengue and related deaths (1705) were concerned. But to all appearances, far from improving, the conditions are worsening this year. Neither is there any serious effort at making the public aware of the emerging public health emergency from dengue. The local government institutions that usually carry out the dengue eradication campaign by destroying breeding grounds of aredes mosquito and spraying repellents, look rather lackadaisical in their approach. The excuse that the mayors and ward commissioners have fled their workplaces is indeed a lame one seeing that the secretaries of the ward councillors and the field workers who do the work of spraying repellents are still there. What is lacking is action on the part of those secretaries. The government needs to look into the matter and activate the local governments to do their bit in the fight against this deadly infection effectively.
True, the interim government has too many tasks to perform which include reforming the financial, administrative and judicial system of the nation. Undoubtedly these are the most urgent tasks and the interim government is under enormous pressure to complete those within its limited mandate, though the mandate is yet to be defined. If it concentrates all its efforts on meeting the reform agenda, the day-to-day job of running the administration will suffer. The health sector is a case in point. It appears, the government has forgotten the vital sector of public health, which is under a serious threat from dengue like it was last year. The government must address this public health hazard with the urgency it deserves. No matter how the government has come to power, it has to do the routine jobs as expected by the public. So, under no circumstances, should it have the impression that it is like the familiar kinds of government in transition whose job is to hold election. Not in the least. In this connection, the political parties that had so far failed miserably in presenting the nation with good governance free from corruption and other administrative and social ills, but had thrown the nation into crisis after crisis without end, now seem impatient to go to power. As if, once in power, they would turn this land into one of milk and honey! Is the interim government, which should be better termed a revolutionary one, bowing to the pressure of the political parties so much so that its advisers from time to time are making conflicting remarks about the possible date of holding elections?
No doubt, the interim government has its weaknesses and that is only natural because never in the nation's history had ever a government of this kind assumed power. It is believed, the government will be able to correct itself with the passage of time. However, it is not being suggested here that it should be allowed eternity to put its house in order before completing the task of revamping the system of governance. To infuse more dynamism, boldness and efficiency, it should induct more experienced people with integrity and principle, in the administration.
Otherwise, the government will fail on every front of the responsibilities it is tasked with.
With this end in view, the interim government will be required to refocus its attention on the health sector with special emphasis on the emerging dengue threat.
It must take a hard look at the failures of the past regime in its fight against dengue, which has become a major public health issue since 2,000. As this government has no political axe to grind or nurture greed to overtake its principles and line the pocket, it can dispassionately look into the past failures and come up with an effective strategy to combat the dengue menace before it goes out of control like it did in 2023.
On that score, the government should send its officials working in the health sector and municipalities to gather experience from neighbouring countries, for instance, Kolkata in India that has some success stories to share in the battle against dengue with its Bangladeshi counterparts.
As the climate change is worsening the environment irreversibly, prolonging the summer and the rainy season in the tropics including Bangladesh, the traditional notion that dengue visits the country in the rainy season should change. Last year in October, the country witnessed the highest ever incidence of dengue, while November, when the temperature was sufficiently low, experienced the highest fatality rate.
So, it is time health experts, epidemiologists and entomologists thought out of the box and came up with a solution to face the challenge of fighting dengue in a new light.
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