Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has urged every citizen and family to spend at least 30 minutes to an hour twice a week cleaning their homes, surrounding areas and regularly used routes to prevent the breeding of dengue mosquitoes.

He said a government succeeds when it works for the country alongside its people. The government wants to address the country’s various problems through the collective participation of the government and the public.

The prime minister made the appeal in a video message to the nation on Wednesday night. The 4-minute-and-51-second message, published on his verified Facebook page at around 8:30 pm, called on everyone to work together to combat dengue.

“Let us all, as individuals and families, spend at least half an hour to an hour twice a week cleaning our homes, surrounding areas and the places along our daily routes where dengue mosquitoes may breed,” Tarique Rahman said.

He said eliminating mosquito breeding grounds, particularly by clearing stagnant water and waste, was the most effective way to prevent dengue.

Dengue mosquitoes breed in stagnant water in corners of homes, along roads and in public gathering places, he said. Removing these breeding grounds would significantly improve efforts to prevent the disease.

Tarique Rahman noted that people of different ages were falling ill with dengue, and some were dying from the disease. He said collective efforts could help spare many families the pain of losing loved ones.

Highlighting Bangladesh’s major achievements through unity, the prime minister said the people had secured independence in 1971, succeeded in the anti-autocracy movement in 1990 and brought the July Mass Uprising to success in 2024 through the participation of people from all walks of life.

“If we can achieve these milestones together, why can’t we contribute collectively to solving the country’s other problems?” he asked.

The prime minister said Bangladesh has approximately 25 million students in schools, colleges and universities. In addition, around four million people are affiliated with organisations such as the Bangladesh National Cadet Corps (BNCC), Scouts, Girl Guides and the Red Crescent.

He said students and members of these organisations had been trying to clean up waste across various districts and upazilas every Saturday for nearly a month.

Speaking about effective dengue prevention measures, Tarique Rahman said eliminating mosquito breeding grounds by removing stagnant water and waste was more effective than relying on vaccines. He also noted that various studies had found the effectiveness of dengue vaccines to be limited.

Calling on everyone to unite in the fight against dengue, the prime minister said, “Collective efforts can prevent the deaths of many patients affected by this disease. So, let us all work together. If everyone makes an effort, we can save many lives from the scourge of dengue in the days ahead.