The Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) is working to develop short-term and long-term plans to combat dengue in response to the rise in this mosquito-borne disease.
"We are working to prepare two separate short and long term plans to effectively fight the dengue menace," Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Chief Health Officer (in-charge) Dr Fazle Shamsul Kabir said on Friday.
This year, the total number of dengue cases rose to 69,456 while 337 deaths from the dengue disease were reported till Thursday, said a statement of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Last year, the country recorded 1,705 dengue-related deaths and a total of 321,179 dengue cases.
A six-member expert committee formed at the DSCC has been working to devise plans to fight the city's dengue outbreak in effective ways.
The committee held its maiden meeting around four weeks back and the experts were asked to provide short-term and long-term plans to the DSCC, said Shamsul, also a member of the expert team.
"After reviewing the short and long term plans, we will take elaborate programmes to prevent dengue," he said.
Asked about the most dengue-prone areas under the DSCC, he said that they had found Demra and Kamrangirchar as the most affected areas.
However, he said that their measures, along with regular anti-mosquito drives conducted by 1,050 DNCC workers, would reduce the infection rate by 3-4% per week.
Shamsul said the number of people infected with dengue disease under the DSCC areas is 4,106 and of them, 33 individuals died till Wednesday.
He said that the actual number of infected people was five to six times higher than reported, as major hospitals like Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), Sir Salimullah Medical College (formerly Mitford Hospital), Holy Family Red Crescent Hospital, and Mugda Hospital fall under DSCC jurisdiction, attracting patients from across Bangladesh for treatment.
Another six-member expert team has also been formed at Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) to work on how to prevent dengue in the areas under its jurisdiction.
Md Mahmudul Hasan, administrator of DNCC said: "The expert committee held its first meeting around two and a half weeks ago and we've got some suggestions from them to combat dengue in a more effective way. We want to use their expertise in finding an effective solution to the dengue outbreak."
He said the experts have already recommended ensuring the use of standard and perfect doses of insecticides alongside conducting a separate survey on the mosquito-borne diseases along with the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Mahmudul said that they have been continuing their regular larviciding and adulticiding operations under the DNCC area two times in the morning and in the afternoon, on a regular basis by 1000 workers.