Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan has stressed effective implementation of the dengue prevention action plan, saying necessary measures must be taken before the situation worsens during the peak season.

He said this while inaugurating a workshop titled “Strategic Action Plan for Dengue Prevention” organised by the Improvement of Urban Public Health Preventive Services Project (IUPHSPSP) under the Local Government Division at Hotel Sonargaon here on Monday (14 September).

“August, September and October are the peak period for dengue. So, necessary measures must be taken before the situation deteriorates,” he said.

Although dengue cases and deaths are currently somewhat lower than during the same period last year, there is no scope for complacency, the minister said.

He called for coordinated efforts by the Local Government Division, the Ministry of Health and other relevant agencies to prevent and control dengue.

“Merely preparing an action plan will not be enough. Its implementation at the field level must be ensured,” Dr Khan said, stressing that prevention is more effective than treatment after infection.

The minister said dengue was not a new disease and that people in different parts of the world had been fighting it for nearly 2,000 years.

He called for future prevention plans to consider the disease’s history, environmental factors and mosquito proliferation, while combining modern technology with local experience and realities.