Impact of past and on-going changes on climate and weather on vector-borne diseases transmission:a look at the evidence

Background:The climate variables that directly influence vector-borne diseases'ecosystems are mainly temperature and rainfall.This is not only because the vectors bionomics are strongly dependent upon these variables,but also because most of the elements of the systems are impacted,such as the host behavior and development and the pathogen amplification.The impact of the climate changes on the transmission patterns of these diseases is not easily understood,since many confounding faaors are acting together.Consequently,knowledge of these impacts is often based on hypothesis derived from mathematical models.Nevertheless,some direct evidences can be found for several vector-borne diseases.Main body:Evidences of the impact of climate change are available for malaria,arbovirus diseases such as dengue,and many other parasitic and viral diseases such as Rift Valley Fever,Japanese encephalitis,human African trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis.The effect of temperature and rainfall change as well as extreme events,were found to be the main cause for outbreaks and are alarming the global community.Among the main driving factors,climate strongly influences the geographical distribution of insect veaors,which is rapidly changing due to climate change.Further,in both models and direct evidences,climate change is seen to be affecting veaor-borne diseases more strikingly in fringe of different climatic areas often in the border of transmission zones,which were once free of these diseases with human populations less immune and more receptive.The impact of climate change is also more devastating because of the unpreparedness of Public Health systems to provide adequate response to the events,even when climatic warning is available.Although evidences are strong at the regional and local levels,the studies on impact of climate change on vector-borne diseases and health are producing contradictory results at the global level.Conclusions:In this paper we discuss the current state of the results and draw on evidences from malaria,dengue and other vector-borne diseases to illustrate the state of current thinking and outline the need for further research to inform our predictions and response.

The role of multilateral organizations and governments in advancing social innovation in health care delivery

Background:Despite great medical advances and scientific progress over the past century,one billion people globally still lack access to basic health care services.In the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development social innovation models aim to provide effective solutions that bridge the health care delivery gap,address equity and create social value.This commentary highlights the roles of multilateral organizations and governments in creating an enabling environment where social innovations can more effectively integrate into health systems to maximize their impact on beneficiaries.Main text:The integration of social innovations into health systems is essential to ensure their sustainability and the wide dissemination of their impact.Effective partnerships,strong engagement with and endorsement by governments and communities,regulations,trust and sometimes willingness are key factors to enhance system integration,replication and dissemination of the models.Three examples of social innovations selected by the Social Innovation in Health Initiative illustrate the importance of engaging with governments and communities in order to link,integrate and synergize their efforts.Key challenges that they encountered,and lessons learnt are highlighted.Multilateral organizations and governments increasingly engage in promoting and supporting the development,testing and dissemination of social innovations to address the health care delivery gap.They play an important role in creating an enabling environment.This includes promoting the concept of social innovation in health care delivery,spreading social innovation approach and lessons learnt,fostering partnerships and leveraging resources,convening communities,health system actors and various stakeholders to work together across disciplines and sectors,and nurturing capacity in countries.Conclusions:Multilateral organizations and local and national governments have a critical role to play in creating an enabling environment where social innovations can flourish.In supporting and disseminating social innovation approach,multilateral organizations and governments have a great opportunity to accelerate Universal Health Coverage and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

A look at the ASEAN-NDI: building a regional health R&D innovation network

Globally,there are growing efforts to address diseases through the advancement in health research and development(R&D),strengthening of regional cooperation in science and technology(particularly on product discovery and development),and implementation of the World Health Assembly Resolution 61.21(WHA61.21)on the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health,Innovation,and Intellectual Property(GSPA-PHI).As such,the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN)is responding to this through the establishment of the ASEAN-Network for Drugs,Diagnostics,Vaccines,and Traditional Medicines Innovation(ASEAN-NDI).This is important in the ASEAN considering that infectious tropical diseases remain prevalent,emerging,and reemerging in the region.This paper looks into the evolution of the ASEAN-NDI from its inception in 2009,to how it is at present,and its plans to mitigate public health problems regionally and even globally.