Lancet: Dengue cases have surged over 400% in past 20 years

Over the past 20 years, there has been a more than 400% increase in diseases, particularly cases of dengue fever.

Report informs that Linda Lloyd, a representative of the Lancet Commission on dengue and other arboviral diseases, said this at an event titled "Azerbaijan: The Pulse of Healthy Homes," held as part of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku.

According to her, the appropriate and effective use of vector control tools will genuinely reduce or completely eliminate disease transmission: "Against the backdrop of climate change and the lack of public infrastructure, the only way we can reduce disease transmission is to change how we tackle this problem and our approach to it.

"In fact, this is exactly what the Lancet Commission, of which I am a member, has been working on over the past several years. If the main risk factors for dengue and other arboviral diseases are overcrowded homes, inadequate water supply, poor management of water distribution systems, improper management of solid household waste and the absence of waste collection services, how can the health sector influence this when none of these areas falls directly under its responsibility? These are the responsibility of local authorities and cities."

"We believe, and consider it very important, that cities and local authorities must recognize that mosquito control is in fact an essential part of urban planning. Alongside mosquito control, local authorities are also responsible for ensuring the equitable distribution of public infrastructure.

"We also believe that local authorities are very well placed to take on this responsibility because they know their areas well. If we want to eliminate dengue and other arboviral diseases as a growing threat and help reduce them, they can build the necessary connections and bring together key partners.

"Differences in health outcomes are generally the result of failures in our policies. Therefore, we can truly make changes, including in the way we organize our work, and address this problem."