ADVANCING THE EFFICACY OF DENGUE PREVENTION AND CONTROL IN NEPAL AND BANGLADESH: TRANSFORMING BOUNDARIES INTO BRIDGES-A WORKSHOP SUMMARY.

Dengue cases have emerged, reemerged, and surged in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe. The World Health Organization reported more than 80 countries affected by dengue in 2023, with over 6.5 million infections and 7,300 deaths, surpassing prior years. Dengue virus presents extremely high risk of infections to humans in locations where cities are overcrowded and harbor large numbers of container-inhabiting Aedes species. In 2023, both Nepal and Bangladesh suffered unprecedented and extremely high case numbers of more than 51,000 and more than 321,000, respectively. In response, a regional workshop, Advancing the Efficacy of Dengue Prevention and Control, was held in April 2024 in Kathmandu, Nepal, to bring together key stakeholders and experts from Nepal, Bangladesh, and the USA to discuss novel and sustainable dengue management strategies, including how to best engage communities in dengue control. The objective of the workshop was to create a knowledge repository to build capacities at multiple levels within and between nations, to share and compare tools, look for patterns of success, eliminate redundancy, and create a touchpoint for future discussions and interventions to reduce the burden of dengue in the region.