A much needed upgrade

With the aim to curb the mosquito population, the government is set to modernise the Mosquito Control Department.

This department will carry out research on vectors and plans to manage them accordingly. These planning and research outcomes will be provided to all city corporations, districts, upazilas and union parishads, Local Government Division sources said.

It will take around five months to complete the required upgradation, they said.

A meeting -- comprising all stakeholders and experts -- will be held shortly to take the final decision on it, said an official of the LGD.

A taskforce comprising relevant experts will also be formed to provide necessary guidelines on existing works for completing the enhancement of the department, a draft proposal suggests.

According to experts, as dengue fever has already spread across the country, a nationally integrated vector control guideline and research centre have become imperative to bring diseases like dengue under control.

Experts said there is no integrated vector control research centre and guideline in the country to conduct research work on vectors that spread diseases.

There are some guidelines for some vector borne diseases like malaria and kala-azar but integrated vector management guideline is very essential, they said.

“A national vector control guideline and its proper implementation are necessary to control Aedes mosquito population sustainably,” said Prof Kabirul Bashar, an entomologist of Jahangirnagar University.

He said a separate institute to curb the spread of mosquitoes is also very important.

Prof Bashar said at the vector control research centre (VCRC) they will conduct research work and regularly share updated information to authorities concerned.

Not only mosquitoes, the VCRC will carry out research on all kinds of vectors like sun fly (which spreads kala-azar) and bed bug, he said.

Prof Bashar said there is no national research centre in Bangladesh to carry out studies on insects that spread different diseases.

“A complete research centre is extremely important considering the current situation,” he said.

Mosquito Control Department -- which can play a vital role in research and planning after being modernised -- is currently in a shabby state.

“Dhaka Mosquito Control Scheme was established in order to eradicate malaria at the time. It was a vibrant organisation with a strong workforce and played an effective role in keeping the mosquito population under control,” said Giasuddin, storekeeper of the department.

Some 338 contingency workers, appointed under the mosquito control scheme, were regularised under the ministry of health in 1972, he said. Back then, extensive work -- including conducting drive against mosquitoes, their larvae and breeding grounds, along with research work related to mosquito control activities in Dhaka -- were carried out.

However, once the department was brought under the Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Ministry in 1981-1982, and subsequently under the direct purview of Dhaka City Corporation, it lost the essence it was empowered for.

A recent survey conducted by the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) recently has found the presence of Aedes albopictus outside Dhaka.

The IEDCR survey, which was completed last month, was carried out in Barishal, Meherpur and Kushtia. According to the final survey report, in Gangni of Meherpur there were 44.5 percent Aedes albopictus and one percent Aegypti.

In Kushtia’s Chatarpara, there was 65 percent albopictus and no Aedes aegypti.

Though normally, Aedes aegypti is responsible for spreading dengue in urban areas, albopictus are spreading dengue outside the cities, experts said. 

Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora, director of IEDCR, said, “We have to focus on destroying the breeding sources [of the mosquitoes] across the country and it will have to be done in a sustainable manner.”

It is not a one-off issue and Aedes in our country is now endemic -- for which, yearlong efforts will have to be undertaken, she said.

Prevalence of Aedes albopictus is higher in rural areas, though both aegypti and albopictus breed in clean water.

“So, we have to identify places and apply insecticide accordingly to kill mosquitoes and larvae,” she added.