00:00Yeah, it's definitely a problem.
00:05So the Ministry of Health here have labelled dengue as their number one vector-borne disease
00:11concern.
00:12In 2023 and 2024, there were between 30,000 and 40,000 cases of dengue, and people from
00:21the most vulnerable populations can die from dengue, and there have been deaths.
00:26It's children who are most vulnerable, Luke?
00:30Definitely young children who are least able to protect themselves from mosquitoes, pregnant
00:37and lactating women, and the elderly are the ones at highest risk of severe dengue and
00:44of death.
00:45So how is it hoped that these mosquitoes from Melbourne will help that situation in now?
00:51Well thanks to the brilliant scientists over at Monash University and the World Mosquito
00:56Program.
00:57They are able to produce mosquitoes that carry a naturally occurring bacteria called Wolbachia,
01:05and this bacteria prevents the transmission of dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases like
01:10chikungunya and Zika and yellow fever to humans.
01:15So we will receive the mosquito egg capsules from the lab in Melbourne.
01:20We will rear the mosquitoes here and we will release them into the environment.
01:25And then these mosquitoes from Melbourne will breed with mosquitoes in the local population,
01:31passing on the Wolbachia bacteria, which will then ensure that the majority of mosquitoes in
01:39targeted areas carry this bacteria and are no longer able to transmit dengue and other
01:44mosquito-borne diseases onto humans.
01:45And have these Wolbachia mosquitoes had success elsewhere in the world in reducing rates of
01:51dengue fever and other conditions?
01:53Yeah, definitely.
01:54There's been numerous rigorous scientific studies showing that this is a safe and effective innovation.
02:05It was used in northern Australia to eradicate dengue.
02:09And more recently, there's been success in Yogyakarta in Indonesia, where hospitalisations
02:17from dengue have been reduced to almost zero.
02:22And dengue cases have been reduced by up to 80%.
02:25And rates of dengue infection doubled globally over the last year.
02:30Why is it spreading so rapidly?
02:32Yeah.
02:33I mean, there are a number of complex social, biological, environmental factors that are contributing
02:41to the rapid spread of dengue globally.
02:43I'll focus on two drivers that we, Save the Children, are seeing in the context where we
02:49work around the world.
02:51The first one is undeniably climate change, you know, with increasing temperatures, increasing
02:57humidity, changes in rainfall patterns.
03:00This is creating the ripe conditions for mosquitoes to breed and spread diseases like dengue.
03:08We're also seeing climate change cause more severe and more frequent extreme weather events
03:13like flooding, which not only exacerbates those conditions, but is also damaging the health
03:19facility infrastructure and eroding the capacity of health systems to anticipate and deal with
03:25this public health crisis.
03:28And also urbanisation.
03:30With many more people moving into the cities, this is creating ripe circumstances for mosquitoes,
03:36which have adapted to living alongside densely populated human areas to flourish.
03:42So you spoke about this a little earlier, the state that the mosquitoes are in when you receive
03:47them and millions are being sent over, aren't they?
03:50So you get them as when they're larva.
03:52Is that right?
03:53We get them as eggs.
03:56So we get little capsules.
03:58They're just like tablets.
04:01And these little capsules contain between five and six hundred mosquito eggs.
04:07So we receive them as eggs.
04:08We then drop them in a solution where the eggs then develop into larvae and then become adult
04:15mosquitoes, after which we take them into communities and we release them.
04:21So we go deep into the suburbia of the NTN.
04:28You know, we're literally walking into people's backyards in some cases to release these mosquitoes,
04:33which means that we have to have really strong community awareness and education to ensure
04:39that we get the levels of community acceptance and understanding around the benefits of this before
04:45we do those releases.
04:47And I should mention just yesterday, I was on the streets of the NTN with a group of Australian members of Parliament
04:54who are here to see how Australian development assistance is being used in the Asia Pacific
05:02through the Australia Regional Leadership Initiative.
05:05And they observe just how Australian development assistance is being used to export Australian innovation
05:12innovation and solutions to complex development challenges like dengue, which is in the interests
05:17of our neighbours in the Asia Pacific, like Laos, but also very much in the interests of Australians.
05:23Thank you very much.
Comments