India seems to have had some success with containing malaria though it’s still the biggest killer. But the country’s public health system is facing fresh challenges now: new and deadly forms of vector-borne diseases like dengue and Japanese Encephalitis (JE). Dengue cases have more than doubled between 2010 and 2013 with a 38% increase in the number of deaths. Japanese encephalitis (JE) has also seen a 73% rise in the number of cases over the same period and a 68% increase in the number of deaths. Vector-borne disease is the term commonly used to describe an illness caused by an infectious microbe or vector and transmitted to people by blood-sucking arthropods like mosquitoes, fleas, lice, biting flies and bugs. In line with the rising trend of vector-borne diseases across the world, the World Health Organization (WHO), which celebrated World Health Day on 7th April 2014, even came up with a tag line for this year: Small Bite, Big Threat.The idea is to attract attention to the alarming occurrence of vector-borne diseasesand step up efforts to work together and prevent these diseases. The following table shows the deaths and cases recorded under the National Vector-Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP). The six vector-borne diseases covered include malaria, dengue, chikungunya, Japanese Encephalitis (JE), Kala Azar and Filaria.
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