As previously mentioned, Croakey features a “must read” article from the JournalWatch service of The Public Health Advocacy Institute WA.
This month’s article calls for a World Dengue Day. It notes there has been a 30-fold increase in the number of dengue cases over the past 50 years. Recent studies estimate 50–100 million infections each year, although, owing to under-reporting, this figure could be even higher.
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Call for a World Dengue Day
Dr Melissa Stoneham writes:
In an open letter published in The Lancet on December 20, five dengue experts propose the creation of a World Dengue Day.
Along the same lines as World TB Day and World Rabies Day, which have both contributed significantly to raising awareness and renewing momentum in the fight against these diseases, a World Dengue Day would help drive efforts to bring dengue under control.
The authors argue that A World Dengue Day will acknowledge the burden borne by dengue-endemic countries and drive efforts to meet the challenge of dengue.
Greater awareness of the disease, together with the development of new diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines, will help to make dengue a preventable disease.
Dengue fever is an arboviral disease of the Flavivirus genus that is transmitted between human hosts primarily by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Dengue is an urban disease, with outbreaks driven largely by availability of the virus and container habitats (such as water tanks, tyres, buckets, potplant bases and vases) for the vector.
Based on climate factors, the risk of dengue transmission will increase, due to a greater geographic area becoming suitable for vector establishment, with some suggesting an expansion of the dengue risk zone as far south as Sydney (McMichael AJ, Woodruff R & Hales S. Climate change and human health: present and future risks. Lancet 2006;367: 859 – 869).
• Sai Kit Lam, Donald Burke, Duane Gubler, Jorge Méndez-Gálvan, Laurent Thomas, Lancet; Vol 379, Issue 9814; pages 411 – 412
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About JournalWatch
The Public Health Advocacy Institute WA (PHAIWA) JournalWatch service reviews 10 key public health journals on a monthly basis, providing a précis of articles that highlight key public health and advocacy related findings, with an emphasis on findings that can be readily translated into policy or practice.
The Journals reviewed include:-
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Public Health (ANZJPH)
Journal of Public Health Policy (JPHP)
Health Promotion Journal of Australia (HPJA)
Medical Journal of Australia (MJA)
Lancet
Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP)
Tobacco Control (TC)
American Journal of Public Health (AMJPH)
Health Promotion International (HPI)
American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM)
These reviews are then emailed to all JournalWatch subscribers and are placed on the PHAIWA website. To subscribe to Journal Watch go to http://www.phaiwa.org.au/index.php/other-projects-mainmenu-146/journalwatch
PHAIWA is an independent public health voice based within Curtin University, with a range of funding partners. The Institute aims to raise the public profile and understanding of public health, develop local networks and create a statewide umbrella organisation capable of influencing public health policy and political agendas. Visit our website at www.phaiwa.org.au
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Previous JournalWatch articles:
• Germany’s role in undermining tobacco control
