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Please let me start by saying thank you to the General Department of Preventive Medicine in the Ministry of Health for co-hosting this important National Dengue Stakeholders’ Meeting today. I would also like to thank GIZ for their support for this event.
The timing for this meeting is excellent, as we have just marked ASEAN Dengue Day on 15 June. This day is commemorated every year to help increase public awareness of dengue – and draw attention to the need for a strong, coordinated, multisectoral response to dengue.
This need for action has never been more important. Dengue threatens about half of the world's population, with an estimated 100–400 million infections occurring around the world each year. The incidence has grown dramatically worldwide in recent decades – and is predicted to increase further in the future.
This is why WHO categorized dengue as a global Grade 3 emergency in December 2023 – signifying the very high priority we place on this issue, and the need for the heist level of response.
Here in Viet Nam, as you know more than 360,000 cases were reported in the 2022 outbreak, and tragically, 140 people lost their lives. Cases and deaths were five times higher than in the previous year.
The 2022 outbreak was a window into the future. Over the medium and long term, the combined effects of climate change – bringing warmer weather and changes in rainfall – and urbanization are likely to lead to more frequent, less predictable, and possibly more severe outbreaks of dengue in the coming years.
Already in Viet Nam, the epidemiology is changing before our eyes. Once predictably seasonal, changing weather patterns are altering traditional dengue seasons and even where dengue ‘traditionally’ occurs – challenging the capacity of healthcare workers to deal with outbreaks, and affecting communities without the prior knowledge and practices to protect themselves.
These outbreaks have a profound impact on individuals, families and communities, as well as on health-care facilities, public health security, and the economy.
All of this calls for a strong, sustained, and comprehensive strategy – to mitigate the risk of large-scale outbreaks where possible, but also to prepare well and be ready to respond effectively when they do.
This important work – including vector control, surveillance, case management, communication, and community engagement – cannot be done by any single agency or level of Government alone.
We need an integrated approach, drawing on the experience, resources and mandates of the health, agriculture, urban administration and environment sectors at national, provincial and local level; national, academic and private-sector partners; and of course international organizations and partners.
Recently, we have added an important new tool to the dengue control toolbox – a new vaccine, pre-qualified by WHO in May of this year. This is an exciting development, but it will not be a silver bullet: all of the existing prevention and control measures will still be required for the foreseeable future.
For WHO’s part, we have been proud to collaborate with the Government of Viet Nam in support of its dengue response – including a national workshop to discuss lessons learned from the 2022 outbreak, a review of mortality data to identify opportunities for improving patient care, and ongoing work to strengthen clinical management capacity.
At the global level, WHO has launched the Global Arbovirus Initiative, known as GLAI.
The GLAI is an integrated approach – like One Health – that promotes optimal use of limited resources to achieve the greatest impact in tackling the arboviruses that have epidemic and pandemic potential. It focuses on monitoring risk and strengthening pandemic prevention, preparedness, detection and response, and doing this through building a coalition of partners.
Through this global initiative and the work of our country and Regional offices, Viet Nam can count on continued collaboration from WHO in three main areas:
- First, supporting the Government’s multisectoral coordination mechanism (aligning with One Health approach) for dengue preparedness and response, starting with the convening of forums like this one;
- Second, helping to strengthen national capacities, including for dengue prevention and control, risk communication, and clinical management.
- And third, sharing innovative measures and best practices from other countries to control dengue.
In closing, let me make two last points.
The first is that dengue in the future will not look like it did in the past. So we need to prepare for this different future – using all of the tools and measures we have available, to protect and save lives from this age-old disease which is being given a new lease of life in the 21st century.
And the second point, is that Viet Nam’s power to do this, and to minimize the burden of dengue on individuals, communities, the health system and the economy, will depend on the collective ability of all of the agencies, institutions and partners gathered in this room today, to work together.
WHO of course stands ready to continue supporting the Ministry of Health and the Government in these efforts, in any way we can.
Thank you again for being here today, and I’m looking forward to a positive and productive workshop.
Xin cảm ơn!