June 15 marked ASEAN Dengue Day. As countries started realizing that strengthening regional cooperation was critical to addressing the tropical disease endemic in many ASEAN member states, the initiative began with the Jakarta Call for Action on the Control and Prevention of Dengue in 2011. Countries in the region have put in place some measures to fight dengue. However, climate change may pose a bigger challenge. Recent studies increasingly show a correlation between the effects of climate change on rising temperatures and precipitation and the expanding breeding ground for the Aedes aegypti mosquito species, the primary vector responsible for transmitting dengue and the Zika virus — which was blamed on infants born with microcephaly, or comparatively small heads, mostly reported in Latin America in recent years. The risks of dengue and Zika are therefore higher today acr...

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