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Govt takes all-out measures to provide treatment and mass awareness


Bangladeshpost
Published : 29 Jul 2019 09:58 PM | Updated : 05 Sep 2020 08:14 PM

Considering the grave situation of dengue in the city, the government has undertaken a massive drive to provide treatment and creating mass awareness among the common people. After completing several meetings, and conducting investigation on mosquito control medicine and building public awareness at different areas including schools, colleges, Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Atiqul Islam has started work coordinating with all concerned organizations to control this situation.

“We will create a central monitoring cell as a whole from where we will monitor the overall situation.The councilors with their team and our city corporation workers will go home to home to build awareness and destroy breeding grounds of mosquito”, said Atiqul. Mayor Atiqul Islam said this while addressing a view-exchange meeting with editors of different media on the recent situation of dengue and cleanliness programme organised by DNCC at Gulshan Club in the capital on Monday.

Mayor said, “I have conducted several meetings with medicine experts, entomologists, Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDRB), LGRD and other concerned departments. When I knew that the mosquito control medicines do not work, I wanted to import medicine directly and found that only two companies can import medicine through creating a syndicate.”

“Now, I have banned one of the two companies and our city corporation will import effective mosquito controlling medicine”, he added. The mayor said, “Mosquitos have no boundary. So, there is no alternative to working with coordinated and integrated effort.” About mosquito control workers, the mayor said, “We will also take mosquito control workers under accountability. We will introduce tracking device and install it with all mosquito control workers to monitor their work.”

“I want to create a dengue research center in Bangladesh which will work all the year round to monitor and investigate different aspects of dengue”, he further said. The mayor also said that the city corporation is providing 24 hour free primary healthcare facilities through a contact number whereas experts doctors will provide free advice to the patients.

Besides, the government has fixed all the tasting fees for all private and public hospitals and action will be taken against those hospitals that will charge excess fees over the government rate. The mayor also urged the hospital authorities not to keep excess treatment fees on humanitarian ground.

In his speech, Editor of Bangladesh Post Sharif Shahab Uddin said, “Only two companies  could import mosquito killing medicine, of which you have banned one. Don’t you think that it is too late to identify this anomaly?” He further said, “People are very much panicked about dengue infection as online, print and electronic media continuously publishing news on this. After all, it is good to know that you have identified where the wrong was. But, the incident is like that the patient had died before the doctor came.”

He thanked the mayor for making this disclosure. Among others, Prime Minister's Media Adviser Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, Editor of Bangladesh Pratidin Nayeem Nizam, Editor of Bhorer Kagoj Shyamal Dutta and other editors from different print media were also present.