The Kingdom will join members of the World Health Organization (WHO) to observe the World Health Day on Monday, a Ministry of health official said.

The official said that this year, the WHO is highlighting the serious and increasing threat of vector-borne diseases under the slogan, “Small bite, big threat.”

Vector-borne diseases are illnesses caused by an infectious microbe that is transmitted to people by blood-sucking arthropods. The arthropods (insects or arachnids) that most commonly serve as vectors include blood sucking insects such as mosquitoes, fleas, lice, biting flies and bugs, and blood sucking arachnids such as mites and ticks.

The Kingdom has set up a state-of-the art laboratory in Jazan to combat vector-borne diseases and the MoH has also formed a National Center for Vector-Borne Diseases (NCVBD), chaired by Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah.

Last month, the Health Affairs Directorate in Jeddah reported 20 cases of dengue in a week. The Kingdom has successfully controlled malaria and set up 14 medical centers in malaria-prone areas.

Since 2003, Saudi Arabia has been providing technical and financial support to Yemen, mainly insecticide spraying vehicles, to help spray insecticides in areas with epidemic malaria on the Yemeni side of the 1,458-kilometer border. Saudi malariologists have also been working hand-in-hand with their Yemeni counterparts.

More than half the world’s population is at risk from diseases such as malaria, dengue, leishmaniasis, Lyme disease, schistosomiasis, and yellow fever, carried by mosquitoes, flies, ticks, water snails and other vectors. Every year, more than one billion people are infected and more than one million die from vector-borne diseases.

However, the Organization also emphasizes that these diseases are entirely preventable. A new publication, “A global brief on vector borne diseases,” outlines the steps that governments, community groups and families can take to protect people from infection.

Vector-borne diseases affect the poorest populations, particularly where there is a lack of access to adequate housing, safe drinking water and sanitation.