DHAKA, Oct 14, 2024 (BSS) – Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed today called upon the interim government to take elaborate programmes to combat the spread of dengue.

He made the call at a press conference at the BNP central office in the city’s Nayapaltan area this afternoon.

Pointing out that the interim government has already passed two months since it assumed the office, the BNP senior leader said, “We think that the people’s power will return into their hands. Only an elected government can work for the people”. 

The elected government can work over the issues where people’s survival is in question, he said, adding that a lot of work was carried out under the government and private initiatives during the recent floods in the country.

Noting that very low quality equipment was purchased during the fascist and autocratic Sheikh Hasina regime, Rizvi said, “We witnessed such incidents during the coronavirus pandemic. The fascist government embezzled money (in the name of procuring equipment)”.

Only a handful of hospitals in the country had oxygen, he said, adding, “We saw people suffering from acute shortage of oxygen and lack of proper services. The quality of all the equipment, starting from the mask, was very substandard”.

Many people lost their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic, but no attention was given to their rehabilitation, said the BNP senior joint secretary general.

Referring to the incumbent government, which is the outcome of the students-people uprising, he said, “The interim government is a people-friendly one. This government should have played a more active role in dengue prevention”.

Noting that dengue is an old disease, Rizvi said, “It was necessary to take advance preventive measures in this regard. Now the fascist government is no longer in power. What necessary steps have been taken by the people-supported government to prevent the loss of life in dengue?”

He said BNP has been arranging free medical camps under private management since the fascist regime. 

“No matter how many flyovers we have constructed, it will not save people's lives. The ousted autocratic ruler did not do the things that were needed to save people's lives,” the BNP senior leader said.

Pointing out that BNP is a mass people-centric political party, he said, “We are working to prevent dengue as per our party's capacity. The awareness campaign and service giving activities have been intensified from today until the spread of dengue decreases”.

As per the instructions of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, Rizvi said, the doctors affiliated to the party (BNP) now stood by the countrymen including the city dwellers affected by dengue as like they stood by the injured in the students-people movement.

Highlighting BNP’s ongoing activities to combat dengue, the BNP senior secretary general said doctors affiliated to the party, Ishraq Hossain and Tabith Awal, people’s mayors of two Dhaka city corporations, are also carrying out awareness campaigns to combat dengue. 

Blood collection has started at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office for dengue patients, he said, adding, a hotline number has also been launched to provide medical assistance to dengue patients.

Speaking at the press conference, BNP leader Ishraq Hossain said, “We have been distributing leaflets for two weeks to make the city dwellers aware about dengue. We have also taken steps to destroy Aedes larvae”.

BNP Joint Secretary General Advocate Abdus Salam Azad, Health Affairs Secretary Dr Rafiqul Islam, Voluntary Affairs Secretary Mir Sarfat Ali Sapu and BNP leaders Tabith Awal, Aminul Haque, Tanvir Ahmed Rabin and SM Jahangir were present at the press conference, among others.