Dengue warning issued 13 years ago fell on deaf ears
A public health policy researcher had warned 13 years back that dengue could take an epidemic form if the city authorities fail to control the breeding of Aedes mosquitoes.
Today, that apprehension has turned out to be well-founded. More than 71,962 people have been infected with the viral fever and at least 128 have died, according to unofficial data, although the government data is much lower.
A research styled “Dengue: An epidemic is largely a failure in public health administration! The role of Dhaka City Corporation, DCC of Bangladesh” was published in 2006 in World Health and Population Journal.
Since the research was published, Dhaka City Corporation was split into two to provide better civic services, but not much has changed when it comes to dengue.
The recommendations made by the researcher are yet to be implemented.
“If the city corporation had implemented those recommendations back in the day, the current scenario would not have been this grim,” Shakeel Mahmood, currently a doctoral student on public health policy at the University of Newcastle, Australia and author of the study, told The Daily Star recently.
“This menace has already created much trouble, along with loss of life, and will cause more damage if not prevented soon. The negligence of city corporation in controlling the breeding and spreading of Aedes mosquitoes is one of the major causes behind it,” the report concludes.
The report said dengue is not new in Bangladesh.
In 1965, dengue was detected as “Dhaka Fever” and in 1999, 13.7 percent children were found infected with the dengue virus in a serological survey at Chittagong Medical College.
The study made a nine-point recommendation, including destruction of artificial containers, source eradication, coordinated community effort, awareness campaigns and change of school dress code as children are vulnerable.
“It becomes clear that dengue is gradually turning into an all-weather health hazard to the people of this country,” the report said. “Even though the World Health Organization has referred to dengue as a major international public health concern, Bangladesh has done little in the way of preventive public health works to stave off the disease,” it said.
The researcher said one strategy is to promote avoiding mosquito bites for people with illness, and minimising the ability of mosquitoes to pick up the virus from biting infected individuals. In other words, quarantine dengue patients from others or put them under net. So that spread of dengue infections can be minimised, he added.
The report said since there are no known cures for the disease, public works including well-organised solid waste disposal, improving water storage practices, regular insecticide deployment and effective public health education, are crucial.
“Dengue poses as much of an epidemiological challenge as it presents a challenge to good governance and public administration. An epidemic is largely a failure in public health administration. No country has been able to eliminate this dangerous disease. However, it is possible to keep it under control,” the report said.
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