Doctors, public health experts and policymakers say dengue control requires year-round destruction of mosquito breeding sites, nationwide surveillance and an integrated action plan. Evidence-based mosquito control, case detection at community level and greater hospital capacity to treat patients are also needed, they argue. City corporation mosquito-control drives and hospital-based treatment alone will not do it; government, the health directorate, local government, researchers, clinicians and the public must all work in concert. Research and regular surveys, along with timely treatment for patients, were likewise stressed.
These recommendations came at a roundtable titled “Measures to Combat Dengue and Protect Public Health”, held at the Bonik Barta office on October 13. The daily and the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) jointly organised the event. The discussion was moderated by Md Badrul Alam, assistant editor and senior special correspondent of Bonik Barta.
Dr SM Rafiqul Islam MP, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, told the discussion as chief guest: “We all have to work together to fight dengue. Government health officials, or the government on its own, cannot do it alone. The prime minister inaugurated the Dengue Prevention and Cleanliness Campaign 2026 at the South Plaza of the national parliament on September 12. It will run until December 12. But I think it should be carried out all year round, because although dengue is worse at certain times, cases are detected throughout the year.”
Prevention, he said, was the most important means of tackling dengue, and given the country’s finances and capacity, there was no alternative to concentrating on it. The government’s central aims were to bring people under health services, ensure proper treatment and strengthen prevention through primary healthcare centres. “Responsibility for preventing dengue can’t be left to city corporations or the government alone. People at every level must be involved. There’s also a degree of fear among people about the disease. They need accurate information and greater awareness. Our treatment services have limitations too. That’s why prevention must be the top priority. We hope that even if we can’t eradicate dengue entirely, we can control it effectively.”
Prof Dr Kabirul Bashar, a dengue consultant for the World Health Organization’s South-East Asia region and an entomologist and researcher at Jahangirnagar University, said effective dengue control required data- and evidence-based, targeted Aedes control.
“For three years our team has been carrying out research and surveillance on mosquitoes with Dhaka North City Corporation,” he said. “A forecasting model indicated five months in advance that dengue cases could increase this year. There’s no prospect of the outbreak easing in November either. Various programmes are being run to control dengue, but they are not producing the desired results. One of the main reasons is that the true breeding sites of the Aedes mosquito are not being properly attended to. Alongside the city corporation, the public must take responsibility for dengue control. It’s essential that water isn’t allowed to collect in houses and yards, and that breeding sites are destroyed in educational institutions and other establishments. To get effective results, Aedes breeding sites must be identified and a coordinated initiative taken.”
Dr GM Saifur Rahman, associate professor in the zoology department of National University, identified a lack of coordination as one of the main problems with the existing system. “A specialised central department must be established to make mosquito-control operations effective, staffed by medical entomologists, epidemiologists and other relevant experts, with work carried out from city corporations down through divisional, district, upazila and union levels on central instructions. Mosquito-control operations are currently conducted in one area but not carried out in the same way in neighbouring areas, making it difficult to contain the insect’s spread. Rather than applying pesticides haphazardly, control should be targeted, with weight given to using a range of effective insecticides, monitoring their effectiveness and identifying breeding sites. Active transmission clusters should be located and given special measures. When a patient is detected, the source of the infection should be traced. Regular surveys and serosurveillance are also needed to establish the true picture of dengue.”
Ahmad Dawood, chief executive of Labaid Hospital, said awareness and preventive work had to be sustained throughout the year, and that tackling dengue was not the responsibility of the government, city corporations or doctors alone but of everyone. He added: “In treating patients, it’s vital to first assess their condition and maintain fluid balance in the body. Those infected should also be kept inside mosquito nets, doctors trained, patients counselled and public awareness raised. Dengue can’t be treated as merely a seasonal disease. Preventive work must continue all year round. Patient information must be reported properly so that the real numbers of infections and deaths can be established.”
Dr Mohammad Mushtuq Husain, a former chief scientific officer at the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), argued that detecting cases at community level is pointless if there is nowhere there to treat and manage them. Equipment and staff must be allocated with the capacity of upazila- and district-level health services in mind.
“An inter-ministerial standing coordination mechanism under the prime minister should be in place to handle health crises, and the same arrangement is needed for health emergencies. Cutting dengue deaths will require more hospital capacity including intensive care, oxygen concentrators and platelet separation centres, along with the equipment, testing facilities and working conditions that doctors, nurses and health workers need. Reducing transmission, however, demands a long-term plan. Knowing the true number of patients would make it easier to ensure timely treatment and management.”
Dr Md Shafiul Alam, a senior scientist at icddr,b, said dengue transmission had spread widely through communities, and that bringing deaths down would require short-, medium- and long-term planning. “Our country has no integrated nationwide surveillance system for mosquitoes or the spread of disease-carrying mosquitoes. Surveys are conducted before, during and after the monsoon, but not across the whole country. Disease surveillance, mosquito control, research and vaccination should be considered together,” he said.
Dr SM Wasimul Islam, assistant health officer for Zone-5 of Dhaka North City Corporation, said: “We run several programmes centred on destroying breeding grounds. We are also deploying our workforce more actively across all 54 of DNCC wards. Our mosquito-control work continues from January to December. Hospital-based surveillance has also been given particular emphasis. Going into a home and taking action as a first resort is not our aim. The goal is to work collectively with the public. From Dhaka North’s standpoint, the situation is relatively under control, and active public participation is essential to keep it that way. Mosquito traps have been installed at hospitals to monitor the insect’s presence. These are operating round the clock and are checked regularly.”
Clinical management of dengue matters, but preventing the disease and eliminating the mosquito matter more, according to Dr Mazharul Islam (Sohel), associate professor of medicine at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Several factors lie behind deaths from the disease, he said: patients arriving at hospital late and pre-existing comorbidities among them. These considerations deserve particular weight in clinical management, he said. “Public awareness must also improve, so that people recognise dengue’s symptoms and danger signs, know what tests are required and understand when treatment should be sought.”
Dr Md Atiqul Islam, professor of paediatric infectious disease and community at the Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute, said a degree of fear had taken hold among doctors treating dengue patients. Physicians now worry that a patient’s death will bring allegations of wrong treatment against them, a concern most acute among junior doctors, some of whom hesitate to take charge of a case. The eagerness and confidence with which they once treated patients have ebbed somewhat.
He urged the media to convey accurate information about the complexities of treatment and the realities on the ground, arguing that it is wrong to present every death during treatment as malpractice. Doing so discourages doctors, and in the end it is ordinary people who suffer.
In opening remarks, Bonik Barta editor and publisher Dewan Hanif Mahmud said dengue was not only a threat to public health but was also weighing on the economy, with treatment costs placing particular strain on the poor. “Dengue’s spread amid a measles outbreak is adding to the pressure on the health system. Preventing dengue requires greater public awareness and stronger government action. Wards in Dhaka where mosquito breeding is heaviest could be mapped and preventive action taken in advance; dengue-prone districts could likewise be identified and a masterplan drawn up for two to three years. Climate change and seasonal rainfall pose a risk of dengue, but effective planning and coordinated action can substantially reduce infections,” he said.
Dr Fahmida Khatun, distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said raising public awareness and adopting effective policies are essential to tackling dengue and protecting public health. “Dengue has become more widespread, severe and persistent in the country over the past two decades. Infections continue beyond the monsoon, both before and after the season. Climate change could further increase the risk in the years ahead. Alongside government action to prevent dengue, it’s essential to raise public awareness. Many people still don’t know how dengue spreads or how to prevent it. Unclean surroundings, stagnant water and waterlogging create conditions for Aedes mosquitoes to breed. There are also often delays in diagnosing the disease after infection,” she said.