When the monsoon brings the dreaded dengue fever, it’s deja vu. As was the case last year, we are not ready to stop its spread this year. This time the crisis started in Sunsari in the east, with Dharan as the epicenter. Eight people in the city have battled dengue fever, although authorities have not given exact numbers on the number of people infected with the virus. In addition, dengue has become endemic in Nepal, leading to an alarming number of infections and deaths every year, highlighting the need for a well-coordinated long-term containment plan.
When a video of the mayor of the sub-urban city of Dharan, Harka Sampang, touring local areas rushing water appeared on social media, it was hoped that he was determined to stop the contagion. spread of the virus rather than waiting for it to break out. spread naturally. Moreover, his actions are said to cause a chain reaction and cause many representatives of the people to follow suit. But it turned out that his actions were more for the public good than a real attempt to resolve the impending crisis. Sampang also disobeyed his actions and neither did his peers find it appropriate to take the initiative on their own.
After weeks of crisis, local units at the ward level have begun conducting health checks and distributing free medicines. It’s a small positive step, but far too little. Dengue has become a health crisis in several places and is expected to spread like wildfire without timely and well-thought-out interventions. Otherwise, other parts of the country could see the devastation the disease caused in the Kathmandu Valley last year. Valley even ran out of paracetamol to control dengue fever.
In order to forestall such a dire situation, all three levels of government should come together to launch a nationwide search-and-destroy campaign, particularly in extreme risk areas like the Valley. But, sadly, when the Ministry of Health and Population invited elected officials from the Valley to discuss the risk of dengue spread, representatives from only six out of the 18 local levels turned up. This is the level of callousness our people’s representatives display even in life-and-death matters.
The 2022 crisis saw almost 54,000 persons being infected and at least 62 dying as the dengue virus spread to all of the country’s 77 districts. A mosquito-borne disease transmitted by female Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, dengue is mostly a post-monsoon disease as the water bodies formed in the monsoon make for a perfect breeding ground. The virus has been prevalent, albeit in a far lesser number, throughout the year.
As minimum temperatures rise due to climate change, there is a risk of dengue infection being a permanent feature of our lives. This is evident in how mosquitoes, not least the dengue virus-bearing ones, are climbing up the hills, where these insects were a rarity earlier. This should wake us up, as we stand to lose more people to the infection if we don’t immediately strengthen our awareness, prevention and treatment regimes.
