Magical Mosquito Nets

Chogoria has an extremely high malaria rate, and last year, Village Hopecore realized that it was impacting the group member’s ability to meet their goals. To that end, a program was created to send nets to the village. Dr. Phil Rasori explained to the Village Hopecore board how it was possible to cut down on the mosquito population dramatically—even if only one member of the household sleeps under a treated net. The person under the net becomes a magnet for mosquitos, who light on the net and are killed by the insecticide, thus possibly saving the other inhabitants from being bitten. So even if we can’t convince a whole family to sleep under the net, we just have to convince one person! More good news about mosquito nets after the jump.  

World Health Organization declares “impressive results” with mosquito nets: “In Kenya, from 2004 to 2006, a nearly ten-fold increase in the number of young children sleeping under insecticide-treated mosquito nets was observed in targeted districts, resulting in 44% fewer deaths than among children not protected by nets, according to preliminary data from the Government of Kenya. This is the first demonstration of the impact of large-scale distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets under program conditions, rather than in research settings, where, in different parts of Africa, the reduction observed in overall mortality has ranged from 14% up to 60%.”