Taiwan - Visit Singapore for exchanges on dengue fever prevention policies and measures

Issues and Objectives

In recent years, the dengue fever epidemic in Southeast Asian countries has been severe, and the number of imported dengue fever cases in Taiwan in 2008 has exceeded that of the same period in the previous year. In order to strengthen dengue fever prevention and control, increase exchanges of prevention and control experience with other countries, and align dengue fever and other vector-borne infectious disease prevention and control policies with international standards, we will go to Singapore to exchange their dengue fever prevention and control experience as a reference for formulating relevant policies and to establish space for future cooperation between the two sides.

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Improvement Measures Taken

2008/10/22 morning

We first went to the National Environment Agency (NEA) of Singapore for discussions to understand Singapore's dengue fever prevention strategy and the role the NEA plays in overall prevention.

2008/10/22 afternoon

Visit the National Environment Agency's Central Regional Office, where officials will provide information on dengue fever education and community mobilization.

2008/10/23 morning

I came to EHI (Environment Health Institute), an organization under the National Environment Agency that focuses solely on vector-borne diseases. Their work includes research, diagnosis, surveillance, and epidemiological analysis of diseases transmitted by various mosquitoes such as Aedes, Culex, and malaria mosquitoes, as well as fleas on rats. Therefore, it can be described as a mission-oriented research and development organization.

2008/10/23 afternoon

I visited the Infectious Disease Control Unit of the Singapore Ministry of Health and attended an academic lecture on Chikungunya at Singapore General Hospital (SGH), where I received a comprehensive overview of the new outbreak in Singapore this year.

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Results

The differences between Singapore and Taiwan in dengue fever prevention and control:

1. Prevention and control strategies can be divided into three main categories: vector monitoring and control, mandatory legal regulations, and health education and community mobilization.
2. Singapore places great emphasis on environmental cleanliness, focusing on 100% comprehensive elimination of breeding grounds. The National Environment Agency is fully committed to environmental cleanliness and considers breeding ground elimination a top priority. Regardless of whether breeding grounds are found in public or private environments, legal action will be taken if a certain percentage are found.
3. Singapore has a great "3P Partnership" program for dengue fever education and community mobilization, which is worth learning from.
4. In terms of dengue fever prevention and control, the spraying is carried out by vector control operators (PCOs). Except for outdoor environments that are dirty or have a high adult mosquito index, where outdoor spraying will be carried out, the main focus is on indoor spraying.

Due to climate change, the future climate will be more favorable for the survival of disease-carrying mosquitoes, which may lead to a higher risk of dengue fever across Taiwan. Therefore, enriching the practical experience of dengue fever prevention strategies through exchanges with other countries can be regarded as an adaptation strategy to strengthen the public health prevention system in response to future climate change.

Glossary

Climate change risk assessment: Using effective assessment tools to understand the medium- and long-term impacts of climate change on various sectors, and to propose corresponding adaptation strategies and actions to reduce the risks brought about by climate change.

Case type:

Structural and physical options: engineering techniques or reinforcement of existing structures, integrated technology development

Social options: learning and exchanging disaster knowledge in the community, and developing and applying early warning information.

Institutional options: Establishing institutions at the economic, policy, and legal levels

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References

Xie Ruiwei, Yang Xiaowei, and Han Yongguang (2009). Exchange on dengue fever prevention and control policies in Singapore.

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Reference Websites

https://report.nat.gov.tw/ReportFront/ReportDetail/detail?sysId=C09703224

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