POPLINE Document Number: 276674
Author(s):
Hirsch B
Gallegos C
Knausenberger W
Arata A
MacDonald M
Source citation:
Washington, D.C., United States Agency for International Development [USAID], Bureau for Africa, Office of Sustainable Development, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Enterprise Division, 2002 Jan. 76 p.
Abstract:
The treatment of bednets and curtains with insecticides has been shown to be a cost-effective and efficacious approach to malaria vector control in many situations, and as such provides significant public health benefits. Along with these benefits, however, the use of these treated materials and their re-treatment with insecticides creates tangible risks to human health and the environment throughout the life cycle of the insecticide products. This assessment finds that the public health benefits of these products justify the apparently modest risks. Nonetheless, the risks associated with the use of insecticide-treated materials (ITMs), including bednets and curtains, should be minimized through such steps as proper pesticide product selection, appropriate labeling, and user educational campaigns. Programs should also actively monitor for adverse health and environmental effects, to assure that risks are adequately understood and to allow appropriate and timely interventions to reduce risks. The use of ITMs can significantly reduce malaria transmission, with estimates of six lives saved per 1,000 children protected by insecticide-treated nets. ITMs are cost-effective and environmentally friendly as compared with alternative vector control measures that use pesticides (with the exception, perhaps, of some low-toxicity biopesticides used in larviciding); a relatively small amount of pesticide is needed to treat nets and other materials, as compared with indoor residual house spraying, space spraying, and larviciding. The products currently used to treat ITMs are also more environmentally sound than other vector control pesticides, such as DDT. (excerpt)
Keywords:
Africa, Sub SaharanIndex page
Testing
Environmental Impact
Pesticides
Malaria
Malaria Prevention
Exposure
Integrated Programs
Side Effects
Risk Factors
Africa
Developing Countries
Measurement
Research Methodology
Environment
Ingredients and Chemicals
Parasitic Diseases
Diseases
Biology
Programs
Organization and Administration
Treatment