Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has issued an urgent video message to the nation to address the increasingly severe dengue situation in the country.

In his address, he urged citizens to dedicate at least half an hour, twice a week, to cleaning their respective homes and surroundings.

The video message was shared on Wednesday night (October 14) on the Prime Minister's Office's verified Facebook page.

Addressing the nation in the message, the Prime Minister said,

"Tackle the risk of dengue; destroy the breeding sites of Aedes mosquitoes."

Tarique Rahman said, "Today I want to speak to you about an important issue, and at the same time, I need your cooperation to resolve this problem at least to some extent. Together, we liberated this country in 1971. We all united to successfully lead the movement against autocratic rule in 1990. Once again, people from all walks of life came together to make the 2024 mass uprising a success. If we could accomplish all these, then if we all contribute and participate even a little bit toward the other problems in the country, why shouldn't we be able to solve them too?"

He continued, "The topic I want to discuss with you today is dengue. Whenever we open the newspaper, we frequently see that people of various ages have died or fallen ill due to dengue. Only those who have lost a loved one truly understand that pain. But if we all try together, if we all step forward bit by bit, we can help many people and save them from the pain of losing their dear ones."

The Prime Minister added, "If we consider the number of students across various levels—including schools, colleges, and universities—there are nearly 25 million. Beyond that, members of various organizations such as the BNCC, Scouts, Girl Guides, Red Crescent, and Red Cross total around 4 million. These members have been trying for the past month, every Saturday, across all districts and sub-districts of the country, to clean up garbage and waste as much as possible. As all of us—and almost everyone watching this video—know to varying degrees, the breeding ground for the Aedes mosquito responsible for dengue is stagnant water. Whether in the nooks and corners of homes or along various roads and pathways, wherever water accumulates or waste piles up causing water to collect, these mosquitoes breed."

He noted, "A dengue vaccine has indeed been developed, but various trials have shown that the vaccine is not very effective. If someone contracts dengue, the vaccine is not very effective in curing the disease. The most effective measure is to destroy the breeding grounds of dengue—meaning if we can clean up the stagnant water or accumulated waste in various places, we will be most successful in preventing dengue."

Tarique Rahman appealed, "My call to you today, the cooperation I seek from you today is this: why don't we—every individual, every family—spend 30 minutes to an hour at least twice a week to clean our homes, our surroundings, and the pathways we use where dengue mosquitoes can breed and multiply, so that they cannot reproduce?"

The Prime Minister concluded, "A government succeeds only when it works together with everyone for the nation. Dear countrymates, my government and I want to solve the country's problems together with all the people. Solving the country's problems means solving your, my, and all of our problems. Let us all make the effort together. If we try together, we will surely be able to save many lives from the curse of dengue in the days ahead."