The World Health Organisation has been sounding dengue alert for us since 1995. Even as late as last year, the WHO warned Bangladesh of risking a dengue outbreak, if it were not headed off by appropriate steps. Obviously, such warnings fell on deaf ears in Bangladesh. Besides, year before last, there was a serious public outcry when the health ministry officials and the DCC mayor tried to underplay the malady saying that it posed no threat to public health. Even such public censure has had little effect on them.

Ironically, it is the DCC, the agency in charge of mosquito-control which comes up and says now that the Aedes mosquito population has been growing 'at an alarming rate' in almost all the 90 wards of the city. With its adrenaline suddenly in a flow condition, the DCC has embarked on an emergency drive sending out teams to various city wards to contain the high infestation of the Aedes in them. Could not the DCC have taken some of these steps earlier on to ward off the 'exceptionally high density of Aedes mosquito capable of spreading the dengue epidemic any time' that the findings of their inordinately delayed study itself suggests now? The DCC owes the public an explanation on this point.

That said, we urge the health and local government advisors to the caretaker government to ensure that the DCC take prompt action on two fronts: first, an information campaign needs to be launched in conjunction with the media to generate public awareness of the do's and don'ts pertaining to dengue management. Then it will be of utmost importance that the larvae are detected and killed off by the DCC before they fly out as fully-grown Aedes to cause the dreadful dengue.