Campaign against dengue fever launched
A campaign is launched today to save lives from dengue fever, which puts 1.3 billion people in Southeast Asia at risk and infects 390 million children, women, and men all over the world each year.
"Dengue Tribe" campaign by Break Dengue, a global partnership of individuals and organisations engaged in the fight against dengue fever, is calling on citizens around the world to voice their concern about the growing social burden that represents dengue. The campaign was launched today on the sidelines of the annual Asean Dengue Day as regional health leaders, experts and Asean officials meet in to address the growing public health, social and economic burden of dengue. Hosted by Laos this year, the ten member countries of the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) participated in the annual Asean Dengue Day.
It aims to collect the faces and voices of individuals and communities globally and in the Asean region who are impacted by the disease, to help make it a public health priority by raising awareness of the disease through community engagement. They are invited to share ideas how to free the world from dengue.
According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the direct and indirect costs of dengue on the patients and their families can represent double, up to triple their monthly income, and cause an absence of 14 to 19 days from work or school. Up to 2.5 billion people in the world, including most of Africa, Latin America, and Asia Pacific, as well as the United States and several countries in Europe, live with the threat of the disease and its potential impact on their families and lives. The cost of dengue in the Americas alone is US$2.1 billion annually. In Southeast Asia, it could be as high as $2.36 billion.
