On February 19, 2008, Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) and Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital of Kaohsiung Medical University signed a collaboration agreement to establish “Dengue Control Center” at Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital to develop a local dengue control model, train dengue experts, and improve dengue-control research capacity.The collaboration agreement was signed by the Director of Taiwan CDC, Dr. Hsu-Sung Kuo, and the Superintendent of Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital, Dr. Sheng-Hsiung Sheu.In addition, the Minister of Department of Health, Dr. Sheng-Mou Hou, and the President of Kaohsiung Medical University, Dr. Hsin-Su Yu, both attended the signing of the collaboration agreement.
Over the recent years, most dengue outbreaks occurred in the southern part of Taiwan have been a result of imported dengue cases.To promptly control any outbreaks, it is not only critical that medical personnel are sensitive in detecting epidemics, but also requires implementation of the appropriate public health interventions.As a result, Taiwan CDC and Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital of Kaohsiung Medical University have co-established “Dengue Control Center” to integrate medical and public health expertise and resources in order to develop a local dengue control model.
Soon, “Dengue Medical Center”, “Dengue Education Center”, and “Dengue Research Center” will be established, combining medical service and research provided by Kaohsiung Medical University with the “Dengue Control Center”.Besides providing comprehensive medical services to dengue patients in the southern part of Taiwan, the establishment of these centers can further combine resources devoted to disease control, education and research to provide relevant training for various experts and develop a permanent treatment model and outbreak control methods, which can be served as references for policymakers and used for strengthening the national capacity for dengue control.