Dengue fever is a rapidly spreading vector-borne disease in Nepal. It poses a serious public health risk in Nepal’s lowlands. The first dengue case was reported in tourists in 2004, and the number of dengue cases has steadily increased since then.
Dengue fever outbreaks have occurred frequently in Nepal, posing a financial burden on patients and the healthcare system. Timely prevention, proper case management, and rapid vector control are critical steps in reducing the disease’s negative consequences.
Dengue control is a collaborative approach where every sector in society has an equal role and needs to work effectively to mitigate this public health challenge. Here I am going to discuss level-wise responsibilities to mitigate this public health crisis.
Individual-level responsibilities: Everybody in society has an obligation to prevent and manage dengue infection. As a person, an individual can prepare to manage the situation on a personal level. Individual responsibilities include arranging protective measures, such as the use of full-sleeved clothes, putting nets in windows and doors, reducing larval habitat by using mosquito repellants, covering water containers, clearing clogged gutters, and cleaning water tanks regularly.
An individual can become well informed by watching videos, reading health-related books and magazines, talking to public health experts, and participating in health-related information sessions. After that, an individual can educate their family and the public on preventive measures, and report cases to the health authority.
So, individuals can assist in keeping the environment free of mosquito breeding by promoting environmental sanitation, preparing protective gear, and educating family and community members, which are the major personal level obligations to mitigate this public health problem.
Community level responsibilities: Community organizations such as schools, colleges, clubs, sports associations, civil society organizations, and municipal and village level bodies can create an awareness program for their residents. Community organizations can form a group and provide the special tasks to eliminate mosquitoes, such as checking water containers and informing people to cover them, destroying outdoor mosquito breeding sites, cleaning weeds and grasses in the public area, educating people, promoting mosquito nets, and mobilizing households to cooperate during the spraying and fogging times.
Also, community organizations lead to awareness programs and can serve as a bridge between the individual and government authorities to plan, execute, and evaluate the preventive programs. Additionally, community voices are strong and help to organize and manage information-sharing sessions along with other necessary activities to control and manage these public health issues.
Government-level responsibilities: Of course, the government has more responsibilities toward public health. The government can develop and provide each stakeholder with effective vector-borne disease control strategies and needs to monitor how they are working. Moreover, the government has increased the health budget, which allows for increasing infrastructure and manpower to combat situations such as increasing infectious disease hospital beds, providing necessary training to healthcare workers, and allocating appropriate budget for those programs.
Similarly, in Nepal, there are strategies and plans, and programs in place that are not functioning properly. Therefore, the government should launch an effective evaluation program. Furthermore, the government has to control and provide adequate supplies (such as testing kits and vital medicines) and services.
Furthermore, the Nepal government should plan ahead by learning from other countries that have suffered the onslaught of dengue in the past and applying lessons learned to effectively combat the disease in the future by formulating awareness and treatment strategies before an inevitable major outbreak.
To effectively run such programs all levels- federal, provincial, and local level government should work collaboratively. For instance, the federal government of Nepal should provide guidelines for vector control and treatment, allocate resources to the provincial level, and purchase necessary chemicals and equipment to fulfill national demand.
The provincial level should assist and supervise local governments and acquire consumables and basic equipment such as nylon nets, lids for water containers, and mosquito traps. Similarly, local government should be responsible for operations such as the management of vector control professionals and actions, following upper-level recommendations, and keeping local populations informed.
To conclude, dengue is a vector-borne disease that is becoming a public health challenge in Nepal in recent years. It can be controlled effectively if individuals, communities, and government work together.
-Mr. Dahal is healthcare researcher and practitioner.
(courtesy- nepaltouch.com)
