Kaohsiung resilient city

Achieving for Resilient City: Acting Out for Disease Prevention

Joint opening ceremony for “National Insect-Borne Diseases and Kaohsiung City’s Dengue Prevention Research Centers (22/4/2016)

IN Quito, October 2016, city leaders and local governments associations united to commit to the adopted New Urban Agenda. One of the key commitments is to strengthen resilience in cities to provide basic services for all citizens. Included is healthcare. Responding to this, Kaohsiung City, an active member of UCLG ASPAC, took actions in ensuring its people’s health, localizing SDGs Goal 3.

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Situated in tropical climate, Kaohsiung city faces continuous threats from dengue fever. Year 2014 and 2015 were particularly severe, in which more than ten thousand cases reported each year. The city government has implemented four new policies—streamlining medical services, stricter border inspection, better management of vector breeding sites, and raising everyday awareness -- to combat the threat. The city government and the community effort brought excellent result since the summer of 2016, and there were only two indigenous cases, the lowest in 15 years.

As more frequent international travel increases, the likelihood of outbreaks for infectious diseases, the city’s Center of Disease Control has instituted and refined an effective prevention and surveillance system for Kaohsiung’s residents. Our team members are constantly in the forefront of infectious disease prevention to further the vision of “Healthy City, Friendly Kaohsiung.”

Contributor: Department of Health, Kaohsiung City Government

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