Bangkok hosts ASEAN dengue fever meeting

BANGKOK, June 14 (TNA) - Bangkok hosts an ASEAN dengue fever meeting, the 6th of its kind, in which representatives from all 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) participate to mark the ASEAN Dengue 2016 on June 15. Opening the regional forum on Tuesday, Dr. Amnuay Kajeena, Director-General of the Department of Disease Control, under the Thai Ministry of Public Health, said that the deadly dengue fever has been set as an ASEAN agenda and a joint cooperation framework for all member states to deal with dengue fever outbreaks should be issued at the end of the regional meeting as it is now the rainy season in the region. Dr. Amnuay noted that Tuesday's forum should also provide an opportunity for ASEAN member states to exchange knowledge and experiences on control of the mosquito-borne disease. Besides, spreading rates of each member country and strains of dengue fever in each member country would be shared at the regional forum, as the formation of the ASEAN Community (AC) since the beginning of this year has led to more cross-border movements of ASEAN population. Meanwhile, Dr. Wichai Satimai, a Thai public health expert, reported that the Ministry of Public Health will keep monitoring the situation in the country although the number of dengue fever cases nationwide stood at 18,337 during January 1-June 7, 2016, 16 of whom had died, compared to the earlier-anticipated number of as high as 100,000 patients. According to the expert, there were a total of 144,952 dengue fever patients in Thailand last year, 147 of whom died. (TNA)