bdnews24.com :
The media is “not disseminating correct information all the time” in their coverage of the dengue outbreak, the director general of health services has claimed.
Even Dr BN Nagpal, a World Health Organization expert, has been “misquoted” by the media, according to Abul Kalam Azad.
The health DG was speaking at a roundtable organised by the
Daily Jugantor in Dhaka on control of dengue and sensitising the public about the disease on Thursday. Nagpal, senior entomologist of WHO Southeast Asia region, dismissed fogging as a “myth” while talking to journalists in the capital on Monday.
He recommended cleaning homes once a week for one hour and spraying mosquito repellents inside homes after sunrise and before sunset daily to prevent Aedes aegypti, the carrier of dengue virus, from breeding eggs and biting.
Bangladeshi entomologist Manjur Chowdhury, speaking at Thursday’s event, said he did not agree with “misleading” information given by Nagpal.
Azad then claimed it was actually the media which created “misunderstanding”.
“He (Nagpal) spoke about applying mosquito repellents once a week. But the media reported that insecticides should be sprayed daily,” the health DG said.
“We would have had nothing to do but kill mosquitos if it was true,” he said.
“The media is not always reporting correctly what we say. It strains relations, creates misunderstanding,” Azad added.
He defended the government record of fatal dengue cases, which is 29 so far this year, saying only government disease research agency IEDCR has the tool to find out whether the reason behind any death is actually dengue fever.
He urged the media that has reported at least 91 deaths from dengue so far this year, to publish the figures provided by IEDCR.
Prof Azad, however, added it would have been a waste of time as far as treatment is concerned if the authorities prioritised counting dengue patients.
“More patients would die if we count patients,” he said. The Directorate General of Health Services is publishing the number of hospitalised dengue patients only, not those diagnosed with the viral fever.
Prof Dr Mahmudur Rahman, a former director at the government’s disease monitoring arm, IEDCR, earlier told bdnews24.com that there is no need for reviewing the deaths from dengue if there is no issue of compensation or insurance involved.
The media is “not disseminating correct information all the time” in their coverage of the dengue outbreak, the director general of health services has claimed.
Even Dr BN Nagpal, a World Health Organization expert, has been “misquoted” by the media, according to Abul Kalam Azad.
The health DG was speaking at a roundtable organised by the
Daily Jugantor in Dhaka on control of dengue and sensitising the public about the disease on Thursday. Nagpal, senior entomologist of WHO Southeast Asia region, dismissed fogging as a “myth” while talking to journalists in the capital on Monday.
He recommended cleaning homes once a week for one hour and spraying mosquito repellents inside homes after sunrise and before sunset daily to prevent Aedes aegypti, the carrier of dengue virus, from breeding eggs and biting.
Bangladeshi entomologist Manjur Chowdhury, speaking at Thursday’s event, said he did not agree with “misleading” information given by Nagpal.
Azad then claimed it was actually the media which created “misunderstanding”.
“He (Nagpal) spoke about applying mosquito repellents once a week. But the media reported that insecticides should be sprayed daily,” the health DG said.
“We would have had nothing to do but kill mosquitos if it was true,” he said.
“The media is not always reporting correctly what we say. It strains relations, creates misunderstanding,” Azad added.
He defended the government record of fatal dengue cases, which is 29 so far this year, saying only government disease research agency IEDCR has the tool to find out whether the reason behind any death is actually dengue fever.
He urged the media that has reported at least 91 deaths from dengue so far this year, to publish the figures provided by IEDCR.
Prof Azad, however, added it would have been a waste of time as far as treatment is concerned if the authorities prioritised counting dengue patients.
“More patients would die if we count patients,” he said. The Directorate General of Health Services is publishing the number of hospitalised dengue patients only, not those diagnosed with the viral fever.
Prof Dr Mahmudur Rahman, a former director at the government’s disease monitoring arm, IEDCR, earlier told bdnews24.com that there is no need for reviewing the deaths from dengue if there is no issue of compensation or insurance involved.
