Proceedings of the 6th Asia Dengue Summit, June 2023.

The 6th Asia Dengue Summit (ADS) themed "Road Map to Zero Dengue Death" was held in Thailand from 15th-16th June 2023. The summit was hosted by Tropical Medicine Cluster, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand in conjunction with Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute, The Thai Red Cross Society; Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University; and the Ministry of Public Health. The 6th ADS was convened by Asia Dengue Voice and Action (ADVA); Global Dengue and Aedes Transmitted Diseases Consortium (GDAC); Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Tropical Medicine and Public Health Network (SEAMEO TROPMED); Fondation Mérieux (FMx) and the International Society for Neglected Tropical Diseases (ISNTD). Dengue experts from academia and research, and representatives from the Ministries of Health, Regional and Global World Health Organization (WHO) and International Vaccine Institute (IVI) participated in the three-day summit. With more than 51 speakers and 451 delegates from over 24 countries, 10 symposiums, and 2 full days, the 6th ADS highlighted the growing threat of dengue and its antigenic evolution, flagged the urgent need to overcome vaccine hesitancy and misinformation crisis, and focused on dengue control policies, newer diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines, travel-associated dengue, and strategies to improve community involvement.

Proceedings of the 5th Asia Dengue Summit.

The 5th Asia Dengue Summit, themed "Roll Back Dengue", was held in Singapore from 13 to 15 June 2022. The summit was co-convened by Asia Dengue Voice and Action (ADVA), Global Dengue and Aedes transmitted Diseases Consortium (GDAC), Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Tropical Medicine and Public Health Network (SEAMEO TROPMED), and the Fondation Mérieux (FMx). Dengue experts from academia and research and representatives from the Ministries of Health, Regional and Global World Health Organization (WHO), and International Vaccine Institute (IVI) participated in the three-day summit. With more than 270 speakers and delegates from over 14 countries, 12 symposiums, and 3 full days, the 5th ADS highlighted the growing threat of dengue, shared innovations and strategies for successful dengue control, and emphasized the need for multi-sectoral collaboration to control dengue.

World Dengue Day: A call for action.

Commemorating the 2021 ASEAN Dengue Day and advocacy for World Dengue Day, the International Society for Neglected Tropical Diseases (ISNTD) and Asian Dengue Voice and Action (ADVA) Group jointly hosted the ISNTD-ADVA World Dengue Day Forum-Cross Sector Synergies in June 2021. The forum aimed to achieve international and multisectoral coordination to consolidate global dengue control and prevention efforts, share best practices and resources, and improve global preparedness. The forum featured experts around the world who shared their insight, research experience, and strategies to tackle the growing threat of dengue. Over 2,000 healthcare care professionals, researchers, epidemiologists, and policy makers from 59 countries attended the forum, highlighting the urgency for integrated, multisectoral collaboration between health, environment, education, and policy to continue the march against dengue. Sustained vector control, environmental management, surveillance improved case management, continuous vaccine advocacy and research, capacity building, political commitment, and community engagement are crucial components of dengue control. A coordinated strategy based on science, transparency, timely and credible communication, and understanding of human behavior is needed to overcome vaccine hesitancy, a major health risk further magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic. The forum announced a strong call to action to establish World Dengue Day to improve global awareness, share best practices, and prioritize preparedness in the fight against dengue.

A novel theatre-based behaviour change approach for influencing community uptake of schistosomiasis control measures.

BACKGROUND: Appropriate behaviour change with regard to safe water contact practices will facilitate the elimination of schistosomiasis as a public health concern. Various approaches to effecting this change have been trialled in the field but with limited sustainable outcomes. Our case study assessed the effectiveness of a novel theatre-based behaviour change technique (BCT), in combination with cohort awareness raising and capacity training intervention workshops. METHODOLOGY: Our study was carried out in four rural communities in the Mwanza region of Tanzania and in the semi-urban town of Kemise, Ethiopia. We adapted the Risk, Attitude, Norms, Ability and Self-regulation (RANAS) framework and four phases using a mixed methods approach. Participatory project phase engagement and qualitative formative data were used to guide the design of an acceptable, holistic intervention. Initial baseline (BL) data were collected using quantitative questionnaire surveys with 804 participants in Tanzania and 617 in Ethiopia, followed by the theatre-based BCT and capacity training intervention workshops. A post-intervention (PI) survey was carried out after 6 months, with a participant return rate of 65% in Tanzania and 60% in Ethiopia. RESULTS: The intervention achieved a significant improvement in the knowledge of schistosomiasis transmission being associated with poorly managed sanitation and risky water contact. Participants in Tanzania increased their uptake of preventive chemotherapy (males: BL, 56%; PI, 73%, females: BL, 43%; PI, 50%). There was a significant increase in the selection of sanitation (Tanzania: BL, 13%; PI, 21%, Ethiopia: BL, 63%; PI, 90%), safe water and avoiding/minimising contact with infested waters as prevention methods in Tanzania and Ethiopia. Some of the participants in Tanzania followed on from the study by building their own latrines. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that substantial positive behaviour changes in schistosomiasis control can be achieved using theatre-based BCT intervention and disease awareness training. With the appropriate sensitisation, education and stakeholder engagement approaches, community members were more open to minimising risk-associated contact with contaminated water sources and were mobilised to implement preventive measures.

The World Health Organization road map for neglected tropical diseases 2021-2030: implications for onchocerciasis elimination programs.

In its new roadmap for neglected tropical diseases, the World Health Organization proposes three important strategic shifts: (i) Stronger accountability which shifting from process to impact indicators; (ii) Intensified cross-cutting approaches; and (iii) Stronger country ownership. In this paper we discuss the implementation of these three strategies in the setting of a high onchocerciasis disease burden in South Sudan.