EU experts in Sri Lanka to study dengue

Experts from the European Union have arrived in Sri Lanka to conduct a study on the dengue epidemic, the Health Ministry said Thursday (16).

According to an official, the team led by J. Gubler of the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore, includes specialists from Heidelberg University in Germany, Umea University in Sweden, and Boston University in the US.

The specialists held discussions with the ministry on the EU-funded Dengue Disease Surveillance Project (DDSP), Ministry Spokesman W.M.D. Wanninayake told reporters.

The EU has agreed to provide 1.1 million euros over the next four years to implement the project, Xinhua reported.

Due to the increasing spread of dengue in the world, the European Commission has decided to provide funding aid to set up a multi-country project in the developing countries.

The project aims to detect and identify areas with a high risk of dengue spread and identify dengue patients early. In January, over 3,000 dengue cases were reported in Sri Lanka.