Abstract
This article provides an overview of methods and cross-site insights of a 5-year research and capacity building initiative conducted between 2006 and 2011 in six countries of South Asia (India, Sri Lanka) and South-East Asia (Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand).The initiative managed an interdisciplinary investigation of ecological, biological, and social (i.e., eco-bio-social) dimensions of dengue in urban and peri-urban areas, and developed community-based interventions aimed at reducing dengue vector breeding and viral transmission. The multicountry study comprised interdisciplinary research groups from six leading Asian research institutions. The groups conducted a detailed situation analysis to identify and characterize local eco-bio-social conditions, and formed a community-of-practice for EcoHealth research where group partners disseminated results and collaboratively developed site-specific intervention tools for vector-borne diseases. In sites where water containers produced more than 70% of Aedes pupae, interventions ranged from mechanical lid covers for containers to biological control. Where small discarded containers presented the main problem, groups experimented with solid waste management, composting and recycling schemes. Many intervention tools were locally produced and all tools were implemented through community partnership strategies. All sites developed socially and culturally appropriate health education materials. The study also mobilised and empowered women’s, students’ and community groups and at several sites organized new volunteer groups for environmental health. The initiative’s programmes showed significant impact on vector densities in some sites. Other sites showed varying effect — partially attributable to the ‘contamination’ of control groups — yet led to significant outcomes at the community level where local groups united around broad interests in environmental hygiene and sanitation. The programme’s findings are relevant for defining efficient, effective and ecologically sound vector control interventions based on local evidence and in accordance with WHO’s strategy for integrated vector management.
Highlights
Dengue is the fastest advancing vector-borne arboviral disease in terms of geographical expansion and number of cases and is a significant economic and social burden in many countries worldwide.[1,2] The breeding sites of dengue’s predominant vector, Aedes aegypti — water containers of different types present in domestic and peridomestic environments — are closely related to environmental factors linked to and maintained by human behavior
The research presented in this special issue results from a multicountry research initiative in Asia, carried out between 2006 and 2011, supported by a research and capacity building partnership between the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) and the Ecosystem and Human Health Program of Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC).The overall objective of the research programme was to strategize and contribute to improved dengue prevention using interdisciplinary analysis to better understand ecosystem-related, biological, and social determinants of dengue, as well as to develop and evaluate intersectoral and community-centered ecosystem management interventions directed at reducing dengue vector habitats
The common denominator in the six study sites was: (1) to design, conduct and evaluate multipartnership interventions with emphasis on community involvement; (2) to identify productive container types for adult dengue vectors and to apply a targeted approach in the productive containers; (3) to use as much as possible an ‘eco-health approach’ with judicious use or no use of insecticides according to integrated vector management (IVM) principles[17] and (4) to assess — as far as the political and social conditions allowed — the effect of the intervention packages on partners and the vector populations
Summary
Dengue is the fastest advancing vector-borne arboviral disease in terms of geographical expansion and number of cases and is a significant economic and social burden in many countries worldwide.[1,2] The breeding sites of dengue’s predominant vector, Aedes aegypti — water containers of different types present in domestic and peridomestic environments — are closely related to environmental factors linked to and maintained by human behavior. The research presented in this special issue results from a multicountry research initiative in Asia, carried out between 2006 and 2011, supported by a research and capacity building partnership between the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) and the Ecosystem and Human Health Program of Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC).The overall objective of the research programme was to strategize and contribute to improved dengue prevention using interdisciplinary analysis to better understand ecosystem-related, biological, and social determinants of dengue, as well as to develop and evaluate intersectoral and community-centered ecosystem management interventions directed at reducing dengue vector habitats This multicountry research initiative complements earlier research programmes facilitated by TDR that substantiated the cost-effectiveness of targeted dengue vector interventions.[8]
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