Minister sees 'gaps' in efforts to tackle mosquito menace

Health Minister Zahid Maleque has flagged shortcomings in the efforts by Dhaka's bifurcated city corporations to exterminate the dengue-carrying Aedes mosquitoes amid a rampant spread of the virus in the city, reports bdnews24.com.

As hospitalisations continued to surge in June, the minister called for a concerted drive by the city corporations and the local government ministry to curb the spread of the disease during an event marking World Malaria Day on Thursday.

"We want them to take further action so we can control the spread of dengue. We can't consider it to be under control as long as cases are rising. Still, there are gaps in this initiative. They need to spray [insecticide] at places that are still not covered, or spray more in areas with a higher concentration of mosquitoes."

Dhaka has the highest number of dengue patients and therefore, residents must also take steps to stop the disease from running rampant, he added.

"They should keep their homes and drains clean. Then, diseases such as dengue and malaria will remain under control." This year, the dengue virus began to spread even before the onset of monsoon.

According to the Directorate of Health Services, as many as 3,802 dengue patients were admitted to hospitals across the country as of Wednesday. At least 2,828 dengue patients have died.

As many as 201 patients were hospitalised in 24 hours to Wednesday morning. Hospitals are currently treating a total of 806 patients.

Prof Nazmul Islam, director of the Department of Disease Control at DGHS, presented the keynote paper in the seminar.

Malaria became rampant in 72 upazilas across 13 districts in the country, according to the keynote paper.

The highest number of malaria cases and deaths were reported in the hilly districts of Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban.

However, cases and deaths from malaria have been on a downward trend between 2008 and 2022. In 2022, malaria cases were 79 percent lower than in 2008, while the death toll dropped 91 percent. Bangladesh reported 18,195 malaria cases and 14 deaths in 2022.