Anti-Dengue Campaign: Kill it with Thirst

The Ministry of Public Health and the municipal government of Montevideo launched an educational campaign on dengue prevention in 2002, after detecting large mosquito populations in vulnerable socio-economic regions. Working through the print media, the campaign placed 75 advertisements in public areas and in public transportation vehicles. The slogan was "Kill the dengue mosquito with thirst." Community workers were trained, brochures were created, and mass media outlets (television, radio, written press) were used to raise awareness in the community as a whole.

The National Movement of Public and Private Health Consumers (NMPPHU), a nongovernmental organization, provided telephone assistance to the public. 

Meets the criteria established under Health in All Policies:

• Political commitment. The campaign did not have a political commitment from the highest level of national government. It did, however, have the support of the Ministry of Public Health, in collaboration with the National Emergency Agency, the Montevideo City Council, and departmental governments.
• Separate structure. The campaign did not have a separate structure. It relied on the government infrastructure for implementation.
• Participation of other sectors. While the campaign does not involve other sectors besides health, collaboration takes place among the different levels of government. Departmental governments deployed brigades to eliminate larvae and mosquitoes with the available technology. The National Movement of Public and Private Health Users (NMPPHU), an NGO, offered telephone assistance to the population.
• Separate budget. The government did not allocate a separate budget for the campaign. Various departments at the different levels of government provided funds for implementation.
• Focus on reducing inequity. The program served socially and economically vulnerable areas with a higher prevalence of dengue in order to reduce the social gradient in health.
• Intersectoral action. While the campaign was not explicitly based on intersectoral action, it involved a partnership between the Ministry of Health, departmental governments, and NMPPHU. They coordinated actions to disseminate information on dengue prevention.
• Public policy. It is not clear that the campaign contributed to public policies that impact health.
• Evidence of results. The country did not provide scientific evidence of the results of the campaign. In 2011 it implemented an indicators methodology to evaluate its impact.
• Social participation. Citizen participation was active through the establishment of networks, formal alliances forums and house-to-house brigades to support the effort.