The country’s dengue situation is worsening gradually as the number of dengue cases has been increasing day by day.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) says nine dengue patients have died and 2,293 have been hospitalised in the last 24 hours till 8:00am on Monday.
The DGHS data show that a total of 7,463 dengue patients are now undergoing treatment throughout the country. Of them, 4,395 are receiving treatment in hospitals in Dhaka city.
Some 27,292 dengue patients have been hospitalised and 138 people have died in 24 days of the current month.
The DGHS report said 35,270 dengue patients have been detected and 185 died in the country in 2023.
Of the total dengue patients, 20,896 or 63.4 percent were males and 12,081 or 36.6 percent females.
Talking to reporters at Dhaka Medical College (DMC) on Monday, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said it is not duty of the ministry to control the dengue.
The minister has called upon people to keep their homes clean to fight the dengue outbreak.
Speaking at a roundtable organised by Development Organisation of the Rural Poor (DORP) and Dhaka International University (DIU) at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity in the capital, experts said climate change is playing major role in the dengue outbreak across the country.
Speaking as chief guest, Shameem Haider Patwary MP said Bangladesh is facing climate disaster actually as the climate change is affecting the public health here through spreading various diseases related to the climate.
“We have to increase community engagement in tackling the outbreaks including the dengue one. Coordinated effort is necessary to face the situation,” he said.
Jatiya Party has also emphasised the need for carrying out study on the climate change and its effects in the country to resolve the problems.
Dr Mahfuz Kabir, research director at BIISS, presented the keynote speech at the roundtable titled ‘Water, Sanitation, Climate change and the dengue outbreak; Imperatives’
He said climate change, absence of reliable piped water, and ineffective vector control strategies are some of the important factors influenced the global rise of dengue including in Bangladesh.
“There is a positive correlation between temperature and dengue. Meteorological conditions can considerably enhance the risk of dengue transmission depending on the local ecology. The duration of the virus incubation period will also shift as a result of climate change,” Mahfuz Kabir said.
Khalilur Rahman, former chief entomologist of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said there is influence of water, sanitation and climate change in increasing the dengue outbreak.
Rashed Rabbi, President of Bangladesh Health Reporters’ Forum (BHRF) lamented that a task force should be formed with concerned departments of the government to intensify the anti mosquito drive in the country to tackle the dengue.
Chaired by Azhar Ali Talukder, chairman of the DORP, the programme was also addressed, among others, by Dr Sheikh Daud Adnan, deputy director of DGHS, and Mohammad Zobair Hasan, deputy executive director of the DORP.
