Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Saturday sought people’s cooperation in keeping their homes and surroundings clean to prevent dengue, saying collective efforts over the next three months can significantly reduce the disease.

“Let us keep ourselves healthy, our families healthy, our society healthy and try to keep our country healthy,” he said while inaugurating the three-month nationwide ‘Dengue Prevention and Cleanliness Campaign-2026’ at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

The Prime Minister urged people to spend at least one hour every week cleaning their homes, schools, colleges, workplaces and other surroundings to help prevent dengue.

“This work is not very difficult. Today you may have to make a little effort, but if every week you give one hour to cleaning the place where you live, work or study, we will certainly be able to succeed quickly,” he said.

Tarique stressed that preventing mosquito breeding is the safest and easiest way to tackle dengue, as discarded plastic, paper and other waste can collect stagnant water and create breeding grounds for dengue mosquitoes.

“Let us all work together to solve this problem. Perhaps we will not be able to do it 100 percent, but at least we can do 80 percent,” he said referring to the three-month campaign.

The Prime Minister also called for greater public awareness against indiscriminate dumping of waste on roads and other public places.

“We see many people throwing rubbish and waste here and there carelessly. Let us all try to make them aware,” he said, urging people to discourage those who litter and ask them not to do so.

The Prime Minister said a small act of littering could eventually create a serious health risk as accumulated waste and stagnant water could lead to the spread of dengue and other diseases.

He urged people not to think that such risks would not affect them personally, saying even if one person remains safe, a family member or loved one could become sick as diseases spread from unhygienic surroundings.

Tarique called for the active participation of millions of young people, students, Scouts, BNCC members, cleaning workers and volunteers in the campaign.

“Work, work, work—and cleanliness, cleanliness, cleanliness. This must be our main goal for the coming days,” he said, calling for efforts to build “a clean family and a clean Bangladesh,” he said.

The Prime minister said millions of young people across Bangladesh can bring about significant change in the country if they work together, urging them to take responsibility for rebuilding the nation.

He said Bangladesh has around 23 lakh Scouts and 22,000 BNCC members, while the number of students in high schools, madrasas, colleges and universities is around 1.5 crore. Including primary school and madrasa students, the number is around 2.5 crore, he added.

“If so many people want to rebuild the country, can anyone stop us? No, they cannot,” the Prime Minister said.

Tarique said the youth have already demonstrated their ability to bring about change, referring to the mass upsurge on August 5, 2024.

“Today, the youth have started that change. So, let us now come together to rebuild the state and the country,” he said.

The campaign was jointly organised by the Ministry of Local Government and Dhaka North and South city corporations.

Cleaning workers of the city corporations, BNCC, Scouts, Girl Guides, Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, students of different educational institutions and volunteers attended the inaugural programme, while district administrations across the country joined it online.

Local Government Minister Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, Health Minister Sardar Sakhawat Husain, Information and Broadcasting Minister Andaleeve Rahman, State Minister for Health MA Muhit, State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam, Education Secretary Abdul Khaleque, and Dhaka South City Corporation Administrator Abdus Salam, among others, spoke at the programme.