Seminar talks satellite-based dengue fever warning system

A regional seminar discussing the satellite-based dengue fever early warning system (D-MOSS) took place in Hanoi on November 18.
Seminar talks satellite-based dengue fever warning system ảnh 1Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)  
Hanoi (VNA) – Aregional seminar discussing the satellite-based dengue fever early warning system (D-MOSS) took place inHanoi on November 18.

It was thefirst of its kind to discuss how to expand the system from Vietnam to other Asiancountries.

Funded bythe UK Space Agency's International Partnership Programme, the project isdeveloped by a consortium led by HR Wallingford with partners such as theUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organisation(WHO) and the Vietnamese Health Ministry.

ViceDirector of the General Department of Preventive Medicine Dang Quang Tan said theVietnamese Health Ministry highly values initiative and technical assistance fromthe project, contributing to the common regional efforts to fight dengue fever.

UNDP DeputyResident Representative in Vietnam Sitara Syed said the disease outbreak isdeveloping complicatedly with uncertainties due to the impact of climate change,and that is why new tools need to be used to curb its spread.

Running onwebsite platform, D-MOSS could forecast dengue fever outbreak before six monthsand has been introduced to partners in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia,the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Dengue feveris a mosquito-borne and the world’s fastest-spreading disease caused by thevirus. It is now present in over 150 countries, about 40 percent of the world’spopulation, and causes an estimated loss of around 9 billion USD each year. TheSoutheast Asia and the Western Pacific are the hardest-hit.

In Vietnam, denguefever morbidity has more than doubled since 2000, affecting 170,000 people and resultedin 38 deaths last year./.
VNA

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