Malaysia Champions Dengue Agenda At World Health Assembly In Geneva

KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has taken the opportunity to champion the dengue agenda in conjunction with the 69th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. A side event on the disease on Monday was chaired by Health Minister Dr S. Subramaniam with the participation of Malaysia's neighbours like Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand as well as more distant nations such as China, Japan, Mexico and Brazil. "It's expected that the side event will generate widespread global interest leading to the reintroduction of the dialogue on dengue in the global health arena," he said in a statement. It was also attended by World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general Dr Margaret Chan. Dr Subrananiam noted that in the 1970s, only nine countries experienced dengue haemorrhagic fever outbreaks. "The disease is now endemic in more than 100 countries in the African, Americas, Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asian and Western Pacific regions," he said. Malaysia's concern, he said, was underlined by the fact that the international investment on dengue management did not tally with the global burden of the disease. This, he said, was in comparison to more news-catching illnesses such as Zika and Ebola. "It's vital to ensure high-level political commitment so that adequate human and financial resources are made available for the development of an evidence-based national strategy and plan for dengue prevention and outbreak response," Dr Subramaniam said. --BERNAMA