Monsoon brings a host of mosquito-borne diseases including dengue, malaria, chikungunya among others. These monsoon diseases are spread by the bite of mosquitoes that breed in stagnant water.
Recently, larvae of mosquitoes spreading dengue have been identified in Bangladesh capital, Dhaka. Officials of Health and Cleaning Department of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) identified Aedes larvae in 2.09 per cent houses and structures as they visited almost 74,000 of them, reported bdnews24.com.
The officials said that they found the environment favourable for ‘mosquito breeding’ in 53.65 per cent houses and structures.
A ‘combing operation’ against the Aedes larvae was initiated by the DNCC on August 25 in all households in north Dhaka following an outbreak of dengue in Bangladesh.
As part of the programme titled ‘Aedes mosquito destruction and special cleaning programme’, the DNCC officials as on August 31 have visited 73,815 houses and structures in 36 wards in seven days.
On Saturday, August 31, the officials inspected 10,538 houses and structures in 36 wards in Dhaka North. They pasted stickers reading ‘Aedes larvae were found in this house/structure’ on the 162 houses and structures where the larvae were identified.
According to bdnews24.com, an official said that the drive against Aedes mosquito will continue in all 240,000 houses and structures in Dhaka north.
Officials involved in the ‘combing operation’ said that ‘lack of awareness and responsibility’ is causing the spread of Aedes mosquito.
Upscale neighbourhoods including Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara and Uttara housed the suitable mosquito breeding grounds more, bdnews24.com quoted Executive Magistrate Mohammed Sazid Anwar as saying, adding that most of the people in these neighbourhoods have a wrong notion in regard of Aedes breeding spots.
“Most of the houses have different home decorative items, flower pots. We found Aedes larvae in the stagnant water in flower tubs in most of the houses. Also, we found puddled water in the rooftops of many houses,” Sazid added.
He further said that multi-storey apartment buildings have multiple owners, which creates conflict on the issue of responsibility in getting the building cleaned. This leads to the proliferation of Aedes mosquito population in those buildings.
“Some of them think Aedes mosquito breeds in the drains beside the streets. In some cases, there is no coordination between the apartment owners about cleaning the building, while the Aedes mosquito continues to breed,” Sazid said.
The report quoted Zulkar Nine, executive officer in DNCC Zone-1, saying that rooftop and basement in most of the houses in Uttara have a suitable environment for Aedes larvae. “Some of them nurture a wrong notion; some of them do not pay any heed. They fail to understand that the Aedes mosquito is breeding inside their house,” Nine added.
Chief Health Officer Brig Gen Mominur Rahman Mamun told bdnews24.com, “It’s not that our citizens are unaware. But I think they lack willingness. They all realise that this should be done.
What they fail to understand is that it is their moral responsibility as well. Some of them have knowledge but no attitude; on the other hand, some of them have knowledge and attitude but no practice.”
The situation is changing gradually, said the chief health officer. “Things would have been different if we started the awareness-raising activities five years ago. But we have started the work in full swing from this year. We’ll need some time but the awareness among the people will rise,” Mamun said.
The official death toll for dengue, confirmed by a review committee, stands at 57 this year, but the toll is higher according to bdnews24.com that tallied a total of 190 deaths, based on the reports of doctors and hospitals across Bangladesh.
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