Skip to main content
Fighting
Mosquito-borne Disease

Through indoor residual spraying, we protected

MORE THAN
20 MILLION PEOPLE

from malaria in 2017.

BACKGROUND

MOSQUITOES:
A THREAT TO GLOBAL HEALTH

THREAT
AROUND THE GLOBE

WHO IS
VULNERABLE

ECONOMIC
EFFECTS

KEY
INTERVENTIONS

TRENDS AND
CHALLENGES

Fighting Malaria across Africa

Since 2012, we have conducted Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) across 17 African countries, protecting more than 20 million people from malaria in 2017 alone.

What is IRS?

Addressing the threat of Zika across Latin America and the Caribbean

 
 
 
 
 

In  , we have led IRS programs in
 
and protected
 
from malaria.

  • Mosquito breeding site elimination and application of biological larvicide are underway across six Latin American and Caribbean countries, with indoor residual spraying conducted in two.
  • We're measuring mosquito density, feeding and resting habits and supporting the local response efforts. This includes training dozens of local entomologists on effective surveillance programs and vector control strategies as well as improving local entomology facilities.
  • The incidence of Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya has decreased significantly. In El Salvador's San Sebastian municipality, mosquito larvae populations were reduced by 50% since we started implementing prevention measures in 2017.
 
 

Zanzibar

IRS contributed to reducing prevalence of malaria from 35% to less than 1%.

Madagascar

The Brickaville community pitches in for a successful IRS campaign, contributing to significant reduction in prevalence of malaria.

Honduras

Cases of arborvirus are reduced from 141,962 in 2016 to 12,856 in 2017.

ABT'S IMPACT

ADVANCING SCIENCE

EMPOWERING WOMEN

PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT

DRIVING AWARENESS

As new disease threats like Zika emerge, and insecticide resistance rises, training a new generation of entomologists across the most vulnerable countries is critical.

In coordination with local and regional universities across Latin America and the Caribbean, we are developing and supporting entomology and vector-control certificate or diploma programs that will continue to train vector-control workers long after Abt's work is done.

We have trained more than 800 entomologists in IRS planning and operations, strengthening local response and national mosquito control programs across 35 countries.

We are providing training and standard supplies to conduct susceptibility tests in order to determine if local mosquito populations are susceptible or resistant to the insecticides of current use; this surveillance is the pillar of evidence-based decisions regarding vector control in any country.

As insecticide resistance threatens gains in reducing malaria and subsequent eradication, we are assessing the operational impact of resistance and working on resistance management strategies.

We successfully piloted Sumishield®, the first new insecticide recommended for use by WHO in 40 years. The pilot was implemented in Tanzania's Mara Region in February 2017, protecting 175,116 people from malaria.

 

IRS work has traditionally been done by men. Increasing women's participation in IRS not only empowers women but also helps facilitate acceptance of IRS in vulnerable communities.

Our approach to empowering women is comprehensive and includes adapting physical work environments to ensure privacy, and guaranteeing safety and job security during pregnancy.

Actively encouraging qualified women to apply for supervisory positions has doubled, and in some countries tripled, the percent of women in supervisory roles between 2012 and 2017.

We are building the capacity of local governments and stakeholders to implement gender-sensitive IRS campaigns so this approach will be sustained.

Since 2012, Abt has trained more than 54,000 women to support IRS operations.

Of the more than 1,800 vector-control workers across Latin America and the Caribbean, 57 percent are women.

Increasing women's participation in all IRS roles is leading to more egalitarian views of gender norms.

IRS operations are complex. From ensuring safety and environmental protection, to managing waste from insecticide packaging and cleaning operations, to optimizing transportation and storage across target villages — we successfully innovate in each of these challenges, working towards sustainable solutions.

In partnership with local companies, we've recycled more than 5.5 million insecticide bottles across 13 countries into products like paving blocks, dust bins and electric cable conduits -- avoiding nearly 1,700 metrics tons of CO2 emissions.

We recycled or donated more than 200,000 uncontaminated cardboard boxes to nonprofit organizations, such as Cards from Africa which supports orphans through fair wage employment and life skills.

In Uganda, we switched key spray operations from using diesel trucks to bikes. We also launched a mobile data collection system, eliminating paper and brining real-time decision making to the fight against malaria.

We invented the mobile soak-pit (MSP) to efficiently handle mandatory end-of-day equipment rinsing and protect local ecologies and public health. The MSP can be used in hard-to-reach places, and can be put together and taken apart in less than 20 minutes. It is easy to transport, and is made of locally available reusable materials.

MSPs have been scaled across nine African countries, with more than 800 deployed to date. In 2018, USAID awarded Abt the Grand Prize for Innovation to Action for driving the adoption of this technology.

 

Driving awareness and behavior change is critical to successfully drive down the incidence of mosquito-borne disease. Our strategies ensure the right message gets to the right people at the right time.

Across Puerto Rico and the US., almost 38 million people were reached through our multimedia Zika prevention campaign targeted to specific at-risk audiences. The campaign won the MarCom Platinum Award.

In Haiti, we used interpersonal communications via health educators, printed materials, mass media spots and broadcasts, and an mHealth platform to reach couples and women of childbearing age to promote the use of condoms and mosquito repellent to prevent Zika transmission.

In Ghana's Northern Region, we worked directly with communities to increase acceptance of IRS. Non-sprayed structures have consistently declined from 16 percent in 2014 to 6 percent in 2017, enabling Abt to surpass our minimum threshold of 85 percent coverage to ensure IRS is effective.