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WHO to work with BD to control dengue


Published : 20 Jul 2019 09:05 PM | Updated : 23 Aug 2020 03:45 PM

Dr Edwin Salvador, acting country representative of World Health Organization (WHO) to Bangladesh has said, WHO will work with Bangladesh to control the dengue situation.

A four-member delegation of the World Health Organization on Saturday held a meeting with Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor Sayeed Khokon at mayor’s own residence in the capital.

After the meeting, Dr Edwin said, “The dengue situation in Bangladesh is alarming but not out of control. Aedes mosquito or dengue disease is not new in Bangladesh; it was from long ago.”

Referring to the problem, Edwin said, “Proper planning is needed to control the situation. We want to work with the City Corporation, the Ministry of Health and other government agencies to control the dengue situation. As part of this, I met with the Mayor.”

DSCC Mayor Sayeed Khokon also advised the city dwellers to be aware and not to spread panic about the recent dengue situation.

Mayor Sayeed Khokon said, “The dengue situation is under control in Bangladesh compared to that in other countries in the world including the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.”

The mayor also said, “In February, we destroyed the origin of the Aedes mosquito in 33,000 homes of Dhaka. The city corporation workers also taught them the way to clean and destroy the breeding grounds of mosquitos. It is matter of regret that the same situation was seen after visiting those houses in the past.”   

Replying to a query of reporters about using expired of ineffective mosquito control medicine, the mayor said, “We use medicine provided by the Navy. We will investigate whether there is any problem in the medicine.”

Sayeed Khokon said, “We have given some specific points to world health organization including to investigate whether our medicine is effective or not, to investigate whether the medicine needs to be changed or not. They will give us the report within the shortest possible time. 

The mayor also emphasized the need to work together to make everyone aware of the situation.  Among others, the Chief of Health Emergency Programs Dr Hammam EL Sakka, the chief of Immunization Vaccine Development (IVD) Rajendra Bohara, DSCC Chief Executive Officer Mostafizur Rahman were also present at the meeting.