March 05, 2006

By: Jane Quinn
Website: http://www.1st-in-mosquito-control.com

Call For Support To Make Long-lasting Insecticidal Bednets Widely available

An innovative Japanese product that has the potential to save millions of people from malaria every year is for the first time being manufactured in Africa – the continent where 90 per cent of the world’s malaria deaths occur.

UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the Acumen Fund, which jointly announced the breakthrough today, said the transfer of the Japanese technology to an African manufacturer was made possible by an international public-private partnership aimed at greatly reducing malaria deaths.

The new technology extends the efficacy of insecticidal bednets from about one year to more than four years without being retreated. Known as “long-lasting insecticidal nets,” the new product is a powerful weapon for fighting malaria, which kills more than one million people annually, most of them children under the age of five.

“The use of long-lasting nets brings us to a crucial point in the war against malaria,” said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy. “If we can get these kinds of nets into the homes of the people who need them most, we can take a huge stride toward stopping a disease that kills 3,000 children every day.”

Ordinary nets need to be treated with insecticides at least once a year to remain effective, a requirement which has been difficult to achieve, in part due to cost, availability, and custom. In comparison, the long-lasting nets retain their effectiveness for at least four years, thanks to a technology that embeds the insecticide within the net’s very fibres. Until A-Z Textile Mills in Arusha, Tanzania, began producing the nets in Africa earlier this month, long-lasting nets were only manufactured in East Asia.

Producing the nets in Africa increases their availability to the people most affected by malaria and strengthens the development of industry in Africa. In addition to the human toll, malaria costs Africa $10 to $12 billion annually in lost GDP.

“If health and development are truly global priorities, then it is essential that we reduce the number of malaria deaths,” said Dr. LEE Jong-wook, Director-General of WHO. “Insecticidal nets stop the malaria-carrying mosquitoes from biting, and act as a chemical death trap for them. Properly used, they can cut malarial morbidity by at least 50% and child deaths by 20%.”

Also see: Mosquito Netting

Author Notes:

Jane Quinn contributes and publishes news editorial to http://www.1st-in-mosquito-control.com.  Find mosquito control products, repellent sprays, traps, netting and other alternative measures for protection.