Insecticides

Insecticide Treated Nets

Experiments have shown that use of insecticide treated nets guard sleeping children from being bitten by mosquito, resulting in dramatic reductions in malaria related deaths among children under five. Dip-it-yourself kits were developed for house treatment of nets. Instructions suitable for use in areas with low literacy rates were designed.

Challenges lie on implication: The impact of insecticide treated materials on death was determined by intervention studies. The use of insecticide treated materials on a large scale can result in huge health benefits and they are a cost effective intervention. However, the introduction of insecticide treated materials requires behavioral changes, particularly where the use of bed nets is low. So it is not always clear how these benefits can be obtained. In addition, some form of cost improvement might have to be built into the program simply in order to sustain it, but this might have a significant adverse power on coverage. In particular, a policy of cost revival will reduce access for inferior groups in the population.

An actually simple intervention thus becomes difficult to apply when the issues of coverage, accessibility, equity and sustainability are considered. The results are imposing not only because of the fast increase of net tenure and the resulting high percentage of treated bed nets in just three years but also because of the staged impact on anemia, parasitaemia and splenomegaly in children aged less than 2 years. This specifies that the social marketing program succeeded in convincing the population of the usefulness of using insecticide treated materials and even though a payment had to be made.

Importance of the fabric: As the use of insecticide treated bed nets has considerably reduced the incidence of childhood anemia, a leading cause of death. It probably has a vital impact on mortality. If this contact is confirmed by the data from the demographic surveillance organization. It will further strengthen the case for insecticide treated materials. Despite the worries expressed about their long term result and in particular on the possible delay of the acquisition of immunity. The treated net project is a success story based on broad partnership an approach that the World Health Organization's (WHO) initiative encourages. Its success must convince managers of malaria control program and global donors to spend more in promoting insecticide treated nets and curtains.

Insecticides