Dengue Track

If we are to successfully combat Dengue, it is essential that existing outbreaks are mapped more accurately and at greater speed. The WHO cites better surveillance as essential to tackling Dengue, as it enables individuals and organisations in areas of risk to conduct more precise surveillance and rapid diagnostics. However, gathering accurate data has been challenging. Dengue Track aims to plug this gap. It crowdsources information about outbreaks from a range of channels and alerts communities at risk (via individuals, NGOs and local government) with near real-time accuracy.

Dengue Track included over 1,000 reports on outbreaks in 2016 across Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Africa, allowing for superior mapping and information sharing in the ongoing fight against Dengue.

Dengue Track is a highly innovative approach because it combines real time data input with the ability to push it to relevant audiences, and because it is the first surveillance tool to integrate a broad range of sources and stakeholders.

Collective action partnerships

On most complex issues, greater impact is achieved when stakeholders work together, not in isolation. But the first step in collective impact involves actually bringing together key stakeholders - which is not always easy. As a collective impact initiative, Break Dengue recognises that identifying and connecting NGOs, relevant UN agencies, HCP associations – and of course local, grassroots level organisations, is key to success. This work continued in 2016, as we set up partnerships with The Data Science Community and John Snow Labs, and numerous local health authorities, NGOs, and relevant industry players.