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Dengue, malaria impact socioeconomic growth: WHO
Dengue and malaria fuel a vicious cycle of poverty and have a significant impact on the socioeconomic status of communities in Southeast Asia despite the substantial economic progress of countries in the region, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)
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engue and malaria fuel a vicious cycle of poverty and have a significant impact on the socioeconomic status of communities in Southeast Asia despite the substantial economic progress of countries in the region, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO is urging countries to prevent and control vector-borne diseases including chikungunya, dengue, kala-azar, lymphatic filariasis and malaria, as the diseases continue to result in the deaths of thousands of people across what the WHO refers to as its South-East Asia Region.
'These are deadly but preventable diseases. The solution lies in a united and sustained effort from all of us. Ministries of health alone cannot control these diseases. Their control and prevention needs committed engagement from all sectors, strong political will and active community participation,' said WHO regional director for South-East Asia, Poonam Khetrapal Singh, in a release made available to The Jakarta Post on Thursday to commemorate World Health Day, which will fall on April 7.
'This region recently defeated polio; it is time for us to show the same resolve to defeat malaria, dengue and other vector-borne diseases,' she added.
Forty per cent of the global population at risk of malaria lives in the region, which is home to a quarter of the world's population.
Malaria is endemic in 10 of the region's 11 countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste. The Maldives is the only country in the region that remains free of malaria, and has been malaria-free since 1984.
Sri Lanka made remarkable progress in controlling malaria by bringing cases down from 203,000 in 2000 to a figure of zero locally acquired malaria cases since November 2012.
To interrupt the transmission of vector-borne diseases, the WHO recommends an annual mass drug administration of single doses of two medicines to all eligible people in endemic areas.
"With mass drug administration with effective coverage, there is no reason why diseases like lymphatic filariasis cannot be eliminated from the region,' said Khetrapal Singh, adding that countries must prioritize eliminating vector-borne diseases in their national development agendas. (ebf)
