ASEAN Dengue Day

15 June, ASEAN Dengue Day is an advocacy event held every 15 June to increase public awareness of dengue, to mobilize resources for its prevention and control, and to demonstrate the region’s commitment to tackling the disease. The ASEAN Member States are comprised of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. 

Nowadays many countries in Asia and the Pacific face an increasing burden from the disease, with more cases reported in 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. Moreover, the recent trend continues to increase sharply in the Thailand and Singapore, and most of the dengue endemic ASEAN countries are just entering the dengue season, with the peak still coming. 

Dengue is one of the fastest growing emerging infectious diseases in the world, and the Asia Pacific region bears 75% of the global burden. WHO currently estimates there are 50–100 million dengue infections worldwide every year. In the Western Pacific Region, 31 out of 37 countries and areas have reported dengue cases in the past two decades. 

In Thailand, total dengue cases through 2015 year top to 142,925 with141 deaths representing all 77 provinces. The number of cases this year (2015) is some 240 percent higher than 2014. 

The increase in cases and geographical expansion in Thailand can be attributed to a number of factors. These include higher temperatures and the onset of early rainfall in many parts of the Region this year, growing population densities, and greater international and local travel. There is no specific treatment for dengue and innovative approaches are needed in preventing the disease at the community level. 

Other than that, we are fighting a losing battle due to lack of dengue awareness among Thai. As the public continues to litter, dump garbage illegally and practice poor environmental cleanliness that will ultimately lead to the increasing mosquito breeding sites. 

Here are some tips to preventing you from Aedes mosquitoes. 

• Avoid mosquito bite by several techniques such as using mosquito-repellent, sleeping in rooms with mosquito screen or in mosquito nets, and wearing long sleeve and light-color clothing for outdoor activities, etc., 
• Prevent the breeding of mosquito larvae by adopting the ‘3-keep measures’ (keep the house clean, keep the waste in lidded bin, and keep the water container closed) to control vector-borne diseases such as Dengue fever, Zika virus and Chikungunya 
• Eliminate and control by using spray chemical substance to get rid of mosquitoes