Health experts on Saturday suggested taking lessons from the mistakes in last seven months and implementing scientific decisions more than bureaucratic ones to fight the second wave of the Covid-19 which is apprehended to hit the country during winter.
They also recommended intensifying community engagement and risk communication, but pointed out that the first wave is yet to come under control, rather showing more of a plateau than peak in Bangladesh.
The views came at a webinar on 'Coronavirus Pandemic: Possibility of Second Wave, What Needs to Do', organised by The Hunger Project where local government minister Md. Tazul Islam was present as the chief guest.
The Hunger Project global vice president and country director Badiul Alam Majumder moderated the programme.
The experts said it might happen that the transmission rate would increase from the present level, but it is not yet sure whether the second wave will come or not.
The authorities cannot claim the infection is under control unless the rate comes down to 5.0 per cent, they added.
The Hunger Project presented the keynote paper, highlighting the corona resilient village (CRV) model which was implemented in 1,201 villages of 129 unions.
It was found that wherever the community was engaged, participated in publicity and awareness building among citizens and worked in patient management areas, the transmission rate was less.
The isolation, quarantine was better where the local government representatives and government authorities worked together.
Besides, there was no complaints regarding safety net programme implementation in the CRVs as the list of beneficiaries was prepared properly.
However, the programme experienced some challenges during the pandemic. People have become more fearless regarding the severity of transmission, few people are following health guidelines to fight the virus, local government bodies were not involved as per the expectation and inadequate awareness campaign among the people regarding the risk of the infection.
The CRV model stressed on the need for four steps - community mobilization, risk communication, coronavirus patients' management and mitigating economic impact.
In his speech, virologist Professor Nazrul Islam said the peak was not sharp in Bangladesh rather it was a plateau of the pandemic that took place between May 31and August 20 when the transmission rate varied between 20 per cent to 23 per cent.
On August 21, the transmission rate came down to 18 per cent. Now it is 10 per cent.
"The first wave of the pandemic is continuing in our country. I do not know whether there will be any second wave or not. The virus has not passed one year of time by which we can understand it's characteristics in winter," said Prof Nazrul.
In his comment, Dr MH Chowdhury Lelin said that the first wave is yet to come under control. It is necessary to follow the health guidelines, test and isolate to control the transmission rate.
The main strategy here is to follow the advice of the World Health Organisation which has called for engaging the community. There is a gap in this area. Besides, to tackle the second wave, it is necessary to implement the scientific decisions than bureaucratic ones as it was found during the past seven months, he added.
Professor Dr Muzaherul Huq said that there is hardly any scope to say that the transmission rate is under control if it does not come down to 5.0 per cent.
He also referred to WHO advice regarding awareness building along with community participation to fight the pandemic. He suggested that the government should take strict measures to force people follow the health guidelines, he added.
Former principal secretary to the Prime Minister's Office Abul Kalam Azad said that the rural people are more unaware as compared to the urban ones. The authority has to disseminate messages through child-to-parent model.
Minister Tazul Islam said that the local government ministry is the right authority to engage community through the public representatives. The ministry has been trying to create awareness by appearing on television and social media but these messages do not reach the grassroots level, he added.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
