Kohima: World Health Day (WHD) is celebrated on April 7 every year to mark the anniversary of the founding of World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1948. Each year a theme is selected that highlights a priority area of public health. The day provides an opportunity for individuals in every community to get involved in activities that can lead to better health. The topic for 2014 is Vector Borne Diseases, “Small Creatures, Big Threat” with the Goal: Better Protection from Vector Borne Diseases (VBD).
A press note from National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), Directorate of Health and Family Welfare, Kohima stated that vectors are organisms that transmit pathogens and parasites from one infected person (or animal) to another. Vector borne diseases are illness caused by these pathogens and parasites in human populations. They are most commonly found in tropical areas and places where access to safe drinking water and sanitation is problematic.
The most deadly vector-borne disease, malaria, caused an estimated 6,60,000 deaths in 2010. Most of these were African children. However, the world’s fastest growing vector borne disease is dengue, with a 30 fold increase in disease incidence over the last 50 years. Globalization of trade and travel and environmental challenges such as climate change and urbanization are having an impact on transmission of vector-borne diseases, and causing their appearance in countries where they were previously unknown, it added.
World Health Day 2014 will spotlight some of the most commonly known vectors- such as mosquitoes, sand flies, bugs, ticks and snails- responsible for transmitting a wide range of parasites and pathogens that attack humans or animals. Mosquitoes, for example, not only transmit malaria and dengue, but also lymphatic filariasis, chickungunya, Japanese encephalitis and yellow fever.
The campaign aims to raise awareness about the threat posed by vectors and vector- borne diseases and to stimulate families and communities to take action to protect themselves. A core element of the campaign will be to provide communities with information. As vector-borne diseases begin to spread beyond their traditional boundaries, action needs to be expanded beyond the countries where these diseases currently thrive, the note stated.
