The Dengue Prevention and Control Review Meeting was presided by Dr. Hsu-Sung Kuo, the Director of Taiwan CDC, on March 13, 2008.The meeting attendees included 25 county/city health bureaus and environmental protection bureaus.A total of 1984 confirmed cases of dengue fever have been reported during the dengue epidemic that began in June, 2007 and temporally ended in January, 2008.

Overviewing the global situation, the dengue epidemic has been getting worse. In order to put together a sound preparedness plan against dengue fever, five county/city health bureaus in southern Taiwan were invited to the meeting to present the evaluation of their dengue control activities in 2007 and their prospects for 2008. As the insecticide resistance in dengue vector mosquitoes has been gradually getting serious in southern Taiwan, Taiwan CDC had also invited five professors to discuss this issue and provide recommendation in the meeting.

Improving the existing dengue prevention and control programs is the top priority in controlling dengue transmission.Therefore, cooperation and coordination among inter-sectoral organizations are crucial. Taiwan CDC hopes to strengthen the central and the local government cooperation through this meeting.