Entomologists and public health experts at a seminar in Dhaka on Saturday held Dhaka city corporations responsible for the outbreak of dengue in the capital.
They underlined the need for establishing a central organisation for mosquito and vector management to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya.
The Centre for Governance Studies organised the seminar titled ‘mosquito control problem in our cities: an outline for a sustainable solution’ at CIRDAP auditorium.
The experts also called on the government for framing national guidelines for preventing mosquito infestation and the spread of insect-borne diseases alongside the Pesticide Act 2018, the Local Government Act 2009 and other related laws and International Health Regulations of the World Health Organisation.
Addressing the seminar Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Zafrullah Chowdhury said, ‘The authorities concerned should stop using substandard insecticides. City corporations need to check pilferage.’
He said that he earlier urged the government to distribute one crore mosquito nets among the poor people that would also help contain mosquitoborne diseases.
CGS chairman and entomologist Manjur A Chowdhury said, ‘Preventing mosquitoes and other insects is a grave problem. The absence of a central organisation for mosquito and vector management engaging expert people and national guidelines are the major hurdle to overcome.’
‘Many countries have already solved the problem through Integrated Vector Management and Integrated Mosquito Management systems. The activities in IVM and IMM include adulticide, larviciding and source reduction,’ he added.
Former Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research principal scientific officer and medical entomologist Touhid Uddin Ahmed said that city corporations failed to take effective measures against dengue and aedes mosquito as the corporations did not have experts like medical entomologists.
‘Surveillance, monitoring and evaluation are important in vector management, but the authorities concerned are yet to take any effective measure in this regard. They do not use modern pesticides and equipment in containing mosquitoes. The authorities have lack of proper working plan as the members were spraying insecticides in a wrong way,’ he added.
He also said that the authorities were giving importance in controlling larvae instead of killing adult mosquitoes.
Entomologist GM Saifur Rahman, Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad secretary general MA Aziz, Japan Bangladesh Friendship Hospital chairman Sarder A Nayeem and Directorate General of Health Services senior entomologist Khalliur Rahman, among others, spoke at the seminar.
A total of 59 people have died of dengue and 15,460 people with dengue have been hospitalised across the country since January.
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