On the occasion of the World Dengue Day (August 26), the Consejo Publicitario Argentino (Argentine Advertising Council), supported by the assessment of Mundo Sano Foundation and the creativity of Agencias Independientes (Independent Agencies, Ai), conducted a campaign to raise awareness about this disease and promote measures to avoid the reproduction of the disease-transmitting mosquito.
Buenos Aires, August 2020. According to the World Health Organization, one third of the world population is at risk of becoming infected with Dengue. Every year, there are nearly 390 million cases worldwide, with 500 thousand of them being acuteDengue, and with about 25 thousand deaths. In Argentina, the summer-autumn 2019-2020 was the period with the highest number of cases and deaths in the history of the country.
For this reason, the Consejo Publicitario Argentino (Argentine Advertising Council), supported by the assessment of Mundo Sano Foundationand the creativity of Agencias Independientes (Independent Agencies, Ai), developed a campaign based on the concept “Get the itch to prevent dengue”, with the aim of raising awareness of this disease, which equally affects the north and centre of our country, including an extensive area of Buenos Aires province and the entire AMBA (Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area), with consequences on the health of the affected people.
Dengue is a viral disease transmitted through the bite of the mosquito Aedes aegypti (it should be noted that it is not transmitted from person to person or through objects or breastfeeding). In turn, affected people, both symptomatic and asymptomatic, are the main carriers and multipliers of the virus.
“For many years, Dengue was regarded a disease that developed only in tropical regions; however, reality shows that the disease-transmitting mosquito is present in a vast area of the Argentine territory, and that we can find active breeding sites in many places and during several months of the year”, stated Marcelo Abril, Executive Director of Mundo Sano.
“Today, we can say that dengue is not only a problem present in the northern region of our country, but that it has expanded and established in the entire central sector, including the large and most populated provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Santa Fe, as well as, surely, Buenos Airescity”, he stressed.
Aedes aegypti breeds in shallow containers where water accumulates. When Aedes aegyptimosquito females find those standing water bodies, generally clean water, they lay their eggs there. For this reason, in order to prevent the dengue virus from spreading, it is essential to take measures, including environmental management and hygiene, and avoid water accumulation in containers like pet water bowls, air conditioner drip trays, canvas pools with a little amount of water, improperly covered water tanks, clogged drains, flower vases, plant pot plates, and tires, among others.
“For the Consejo Publicitario, it is very important to promote this initiative so as to reinforce the prevention messages, since dengue is an issue that requires the involvement of the whole society. We want to express our special gratitude to Agencias Independientes for joining our project and Mundo Sano for their technical support”, stated Mariano Pasik, President of the Consejo Publicitario Argentino.
For further information about this topic, visit: dengue.mundosano.org