News
Dengue management – SL shows the way to Bangladesh
View(s):By Kumudini Hettiarachchi
Up goes a case study on the screen and every aspect of treatment and management is analysed and discussed under the guidance of Senior Consultant Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama who is also current SLMA President.
It was all about Dengue Fever (DF) and Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF) and those who were getting an insight on how Sri Lanka manages this scourge successfully were from Bangladesh, while the Sunday Times sat in on the exhaustive analysis of real case studies.
Last Sunday was the concluding session of the seven-day ‘Dengue Clinical Management: Training of Trainer (ToT) Programme’ for 17 clinicians and nursing officers of Bangladesh’s Health and Family Welfare Ministry.
-
- Hands-on learning at the NIID Pix by M A Pushpa Kumara and SLMA
-
- Trainees on a field visit with Battaramulla Medical Officer of Health (MOH) staff
-
- The session at the SLMA looking at case studies
The programme was conducted in collaboration with the National Dengue Control Unit (NDCU) – the national focal point for dengue control and prevention activities; SLMA; and other professional organizations. The World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office had provided technical and financial support.
This capacity building programme included presentations/lectures, discussions, hands on training, clinical training, field visits and interactive sessions.
In addition to Lead Trainer Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama, the others who gave of their time and effort included National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) Director Dr. Aruna Sandanayaka; NDCU Director Dr. Sudath Samaraweera; and Programme Coordinators Dr. Lahiru Kodituwakku, Dr. Jagath Amarasekera and Dr. Thisara Perera.
Those days, back in the early 2000s, Sri Lankan doctors headed to Thailand to see how that country tackled the burden of dengue as our country’s dengue death numbers skyrocketed.
A programme spokesperson said that now, however, even though dengue is a public health problem in Sri Lanka with more than 50,000 cases being reported each year in the recent past, the expertise, skills and management of these patients by doctor-nurse teams in state sector hospitals have seen a drastic reduction in complications and death.
The case fatality rate (CFR) or simply put the death rate in dengue which was regrettably around 1% in 2009 has gradually been cut down to 0.1% in 2022.
“The answer lies in Sri Lanka ensuring that ‘timely’ and ‘appropriate’ management of patients is done to prevent complications and death,” the spokesperson said, urging however that it is important to reduce the cases and outbreaks, as increased admission of cases could impact on patient management.
Looking at the situation in Sri Lanka, it is understood that a low CFR has been maintained even with a high number of cases: In 2022, while 76,000 cases were reported, the CFR was 0.09%; in 2023 while 89,799 cases were reported, the CFR was 0.07%.
“This shows the resilience of the curative sector in managing dengue patients,” the spokesperson said, pointing out that this achievement is due to multiple factors.
These factors include clinical guidelines, clinical staff capacity building, improved hospital infrastructure and an in-depth death review process. Continuous and routine capacity building for curative health staff (medical and nursing officers) is also conducted in line with the National Dengue Management Guidelines.
It was at the 220-bed NIID, the premier hospital specialized in the management of infectious diseases, that the group from abroad got hands-on training in dengue management.
The NIID which is home to a specialised Dengue Treatment Unit with skilled and dedicated staff is a national level training facility for dengue clinical management. Here under structured training programmes, 487 health staff (198 medical and 289 nursing officers) and 456 health staff (242 medical and 214 nursing officers) have received dengue clinical management training in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
The best way to say that you found the home of your dreams is by finding it on Hitad.lk. We have listings for apartments for sale or rent in Sri Lanka, no matter what locale you're looking for! Whether you live in Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Matara, Jaffna and more - we've got them all!