Tanzania: long-lasting bednets
to fight malaria
Tanzania has become the first African country to start producing a new type
of long-lasting bednet that could help significantly reduce deaths from malaria,
the mosquito-borne disease that kills more than a million people a year.
The bednets are made from specially designed polyester that incorporates
insecticide into the material's molecular structure. This means that unlike
conventional bednets, which need to be sprayed with insecticide every year to
remain effective, the new bednets can fend off mosquitoes for more than four
years without being retreated.
"The use of long-lasting nets brings us to a crucial point in the war
against malaria," says Carol Bellamy, executive director of the United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). "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."
An Arusha-based manufacturer, A-Z Textile Mills, has started producing the
new bednets with the financial support of an international public-private
partnership that includes UNICEF, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the New
York-based organisation the Acumen Fund, and private companies. Previously, the
long-lasting nets - which were designed in Japan - were manufactured only in
East Asia.
According to the WHO, producing the nets in Africa increases their
availability to those most at need, and also strengthens the development of
industry in Africa.
Bellamy says that more needs to be done to allow the poor to benefit from the
new technology. "It is critical that this breakthrough with long-lasting
nets benefits poor families and communities," she says. "Reducing
taxes and tariffs on material needed to produce the netting will make this
possible, as well as subsidising the cost of the new nets."
Source: SciDev.Net
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