Recently there was a workshop on management of dengue in Bangladesh that threw up some excellent ideas. Heads were put together to formulate a set of guidelines for combating dengue which we need to keep handy all the time for use. The WHO has evidence on the potential existence of dengue in Bangladesh. Now is the time to evolve an operational strategy based on this evidence with technical assistance and help from the WHO and other bilateral and multilateral partners to put it to use. Research and capacity building, both institutional and human, should be part of any long-term measure against this disease. Resource mobilisation for such a programme remains an important element in its own right in a country like Bangladesh. Much of the resource that is being spent now to control the menace or treat the infected people could be saved if precautionary measures were taken earlier on to ward off the disease. We must not forget prevention is cost-effective.