For several years, dengue has rapidly mutated from being a seasonal nuisance to a round-the-year concern for Bangladesh. As monsoon rains create the perfect breeding conditions for Aedes mosquitoes, our urban centres -- particularly Dhaka -- risk facing yet another epidemic unless immediate action is taken by the administration.
Year after year, we see the same pattern: reactive fogging and awareness campaigns only after cases surge. This approach has failed. The Aedes mosquito thrives in our cities' stagnant water – in construction sites, clogged drains, and uncovered containers. With scores of patients currently hospitalized in the first three months of the current year, our healthcare system cannot afford another devastating outbreak such as the one from two years ago.
Unsurprisingly, the solution requires year-round, coordinated efforts towards strict enforcement of clean construction site policies with penalties for violations, weekly neighborhood inspections to eliminate stagnant water sources, and more innovative solutions such as previously revealed plans of releasing sterile mosquitoes in order to curb their population from increasing.
Countries such as Singapore and Cuba have already shown that dengue can be controlled through sustained mosquito management. Bangladesh must adopt similar determination. Dhaka’s twin city corporations must overcome their historical inability to work together on even the most fundamental of challenges and have to lead coordinated efforts with health authorities and communities in order to attack the dengue problem at the source.
Dengue has long stopped being just a health issue -- it is a test of governance. Unless the administration acts decisively now, the coming monsoon will bring needless suffering and death. The time for half-measures in mosquito control is over.
Sunday, May 18, 2025
