Dengue fever , an old enemy of the region, is spreading more rapidly in the Asia-Pacific region in the last few decades. There were more than 3,000 deaths reported in South-east Asia last year. With outbreaks reported more frequently, over 1.8 billion people in the region are at risk. A regional and international approach is therefore essential to tackle the disease.

Recognising the importance of trained personnel for effective national dengue control programmes, the National Environment Agency (NEA), together with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Singapore organised the first capacity-building dengue workshop in the region, under the auspices of the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) and the Singapore-WHO Joint Training Programme. The workshop was supported by the Regional Emerging Diseases Intervention (REDI) Centre, Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) and Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC).

Forty-two participants from 28 regional countries took part in this ‘First Asia-Pacific Dengue Workshop’ held in Singapore from the 10 to 19 March 2009.

Click here for the full report on the workshop.