Break Dengue Launches Global Social Movement at ASEAN Dengue Day 2015 to Make Dengue a Global Health Priority

SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - June 15, 2015 - Break Dengue, a global partnership of individuals and organizations engaged in the fight against dengue fever, is calling on citizens around the world to voice their concern about the growing social burden that represents dengue.

 

The Dengue Tribe campaign was launched today on the sidelines of the annual ASEAN Dengue Day as regional health leaders, experts and ASEAN officials meet to address the growing public health, social and economic burden of dengue. Hosted by Laos this year, the ten member countries of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) participated in the annual ASEAN Dengue Day.

 

With 1.3 billion people living in Southeast Asia at risk of getting the disease, the region continues to demonstrate its commitment to combatting dengue by raising awareness, promoting cooperation, and reinforcing prevention strategies.

 

The newly established Dengue Tribe campaign aims to collect the faces and voices of individuals and communities globally and in the ASEAN region who are impacted by the disease, to help make it a public health priority by raising awareness of the disease through community engagement.

 

Each year, 390 million children, women, and men in over one hundred countries are infected with this vector-borne disease. According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the direct and indirect costs of dengue on the patients and their families can represent double, up to triple their monthly income[i], and cause an absence of 14 to 19 days from work or school. Up to 2.5 billion people in the world, including most of Africa, Latin America, and Asia Pacific, as well as the United States and several countries in Europe, live with the threat of the disease and its potential impact on their families and lives. The cost of dengue in the Americas alone is 2.1 billion US dollars annually. In Southeast Asia, it could be as high as 2.36 billion US dollars[ii].

 

The Break Dengue initiative, its partners, and supporters, are calling on citizens to join the dengue Tribe www.denguetribe.org. Members of the tribe will take several actions to report on the local concern that represents dengue, telling global leaders to "Free our Tribe from Dengue!"

 

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About Break Dengue Break Dengue is a global partnership of individuals and organizations engaged in the fight against dengue fever and is hosted by The Synergist, a non-profit organisation www.thesynergist.org. It uses a combination of community engagement, social networks, collaborative projects, and knowledge sharing to give a voice to those affected by the disease. Break Dengue’s sponsors and partners include Americas Health Foundation, Bayer CropScience, HealthMap, International Society for Neglected Tropical Diseases, Malaria Consortium, Sanofi Pasteur, and TEDxGateway. Break Dengue has been awarded a “Shorty Award” for Best social media initiative in healthcare and an “eyeforpharma” award for Most impactful emerging initiative. www.breakdengue.org [i] International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Dengue: Turning up the volume on a silent disaster, 2014 http://www.ifrc.org/dengue [ii] International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Dengue: Turning up the volume on a silent disaster, 2014 http://www.ifrc.org/dengue