Helping hand in dengue fight

A total of 10,000 rapid dengue test kits, 75,000 mosquito nets, 1,000 mosquito lamps, 40,000 sticky fly traps, and various public awareness materials will be donated to Vanuatu, with an aim to enhance public awareness of vector-borne diseases and strengthen local public health prevention efforts.

Dengue cases in the Pacific reached nearly 19,000 in July, the highest since 2016, Radio New Zealand reported, citing data from the World Health Organization.

Vanuatu is GX's eighth project country. The team first visited the country in December and started to prepare for the project in April.

"On behalf of the government and people of Vanuatu, I extend our sincere gratitude to China for the continued and generous support to our health sector," Vanuatu's Minister of Health John Still Tariqetu said at the launch ceremony.

Noting that tropical diseases like dengue fever and malaria have had a significant impact on the island nation's community, he said the program is timely and much needed, and will play a key role in raising awareness, improving early detection and enhancing prevention and control.

In a pilot program conducted by July, the first batch of 134 sets of prevention supplies were distributed to health clinics in various villages and medical institutions, with 90 sets allocated to Vila Central Hospital.

Dr Robert Vocor, the hospital's acting medical superintendent, said the dengue testing kits help reduce the testing time to less than 20 minutes compared with 12-24 hours by lab test.

Besides vector-borne diseases, GX also focuses on non-infectious diseases and works to provide education on healthy eating habits.

As Vanuatu is among the countries most vulnerable to natural disasters and climate change, works on disaster preparation and strengthening the local community's resilience will be the key, according to Leung.

Since February, GX has distributed nearly 5,000 disaster preparedness kits to communities in Saama, Takara, Melemaat, Mele, and Erakor in Vanuatu. The kits, which include water purification tablets, crank radios, and medical supplies, are designed to support over 30,000 lives in Port Vila's disaster corridor.

Emily Chan Ying-yang, professor and assistant dean of external affairs of Faculty of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and CEO of GX Foundation, highlighted the role of youth participation in GX's program, as the foundation has deployed 100 humanitarian personnel to provide direct assistance to Vanuatu, including over 30 secondary school and university students from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

Looking ahead, Chan hopes the project can be expanded to other island nations in the Pacific, to help build a disaster preparation network in the region.

After the Vanuatu trip, GX representatives and volunteers went to Fiji to meet with officials from the nation's health and medical services ministry, medical professionals in the Nadi Hospital and medical students at Fiji National University to discuss dengue fever control.