Philanthropic bodies should help fund dengue vaccine research: Experts

As government and private sector funding becomes more unreliable, philanthropic organisations can play a greater role in supporting treatments for diseases such as dengue, experts on a panel discussing how to tackle mosquito-borne diseases have said.

- Zhaki Abdullah

Dengue numbers have surged in recent years. In 2024, a record high of more than 13 million cases were reported globally, according to data from the World Health Organisation. This is more than double the 6.5 million recorded in 2023.

In Singapore, over 13,600 cases were reported in 2024, a 36 per cent increase from the 9,949 cases in 2023, National Environment Agency data showed.

Experts point to changes in climate and temperature, as well as increased urbanisation, as possible reasons for the surge, allowing the mosquitoes to breed more widely as well as enjoy longer lifespans.

As at March, some 1.4 million dengue cases have been reported worldwide in 2025, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

At the Philanthropy Asia Summit 2025, organised by Temasek Trust's Philanthropy Asia Alliance and held at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre on May 5, Sir Peter Horby, one of the panellists, said developing vaccines and other therapies is a long game.

He noted that the first dengue vaccine trials were conducted in the 1920s. But the development is now impacted by the US having recently cancelled funding for a number of centres working on antiviral drug discovery programmes.