Diseases such as Malaria, Dengue,Leishmaniasis and Yellow Fever are preventable, yet they have the biggest impact on some of the world’s poorest people (WHO).
One sixth of the illness and disability suffered worldwide is due to vector-borne diseases, with more than half the world’s population currently estimated to be at risk of these diseases; WHO report 2013. The poorest segments of society and least-developed countries being most affected. Malaria remains the vector-borne disease with the highest death toll in humans, estimated to have caused about 207 million infections globally in 2012 and to have claimed 627 000 lives. The world’s fastest growing vector-borne disease, however, is dengue, also spread by mosquitoes, with a 30-fold increase in incidence over the past 50 years, topping 100 million cases across 100 countries in 2012. An estimated 500,000 people with severe dengue require hospitalization each year, a large proportion of whom are children; about 2.5% of those infected die. “This year’s World Health Day theme of Small bite, big threat is a timely reminder that vector-borne diseases affect billions of people globally.
According to Uganda Demographics Profile 2013, vector borne diseases like malaria, dengue fever, and trypanosomiasis-Gambiense (African sleeping sickness) are common in the country as major infectious diseases.
Ivan Kintu, Advocacy & Resource Mobilisation Officer DSW-Uganda, had this to say about the World Health Day Theme; “Providing nets some of which are of poor quality is not a critical action against vector diseases. However there is need to raise awareness on the dangers of vectors in our communities so that people change their attitude and keep good and develop health seeking behaviours”
As we commemorate this day I think there is need for evidence-based decision making, inter-sectoral collaboration, capacity building, legislation, Social Mobilization and Advocacy.
