Looking into Double-Treated Mosquito Nets for Malaria Prevention

Mosquitoes are annoying at best and life-threatening at worst. These insects are best known to spread diseases, including malaria. For decades, the world has been trying to eradicate malaria. The New Nets Project presents an innovation in mosquito nets for malaria prevention.

Malaria Is Getting Worse

Malaria is a disease caused by Plasmodium, a genus of parasites usually carried by anopheles mosquitoes. In August 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that decades of progress on malaria had been reversed in 13 countries. Why?

Besides global healthcare inequality, climate change has made things worse. As climate change increases the frequency of extreme weather events, high temperatures, floods, and cyclones are everywhere. These conditions are perfect for mosquitoes to thrive.

Despite the development of treatments, vaccines, and other preventive measures, malaria cases worldwide keep rising. In five years, the numbers went from 219 million cases in 2017 to nearly 250 million in 2022. The WHO estimated more than 600,000 deaths from malaria in 2022, with 80% coming from children under five.

New Nets Project’s Mosquito Nets

Despite the limited product lifespan and waste concerns, nets treated with pyrethroid insecticide have been the recommended protection against mosquitoes since the 1990s. Unfortunately, mosquitoes have become increasingly resistant to the chemical in standard insecticide-treated nets (ITNs).

In this light, the New Nets Project presents an innovation of two types of mosquito nets treated with new insecticide combinations. The BASF’s Interceptor G2 nets combine pyrethroid and chlorfenapyr, and the DCT’s Royal Guard nets use the pyrethroid-pyriproxyfen combination.

Led by the IVCC (Innovative Vector Control Concortium), the New Nets Project completed two clinical trials and five pilot studies in 17 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, where 90% of malaria cases are from. Reportedly, the new mosquito nets improved malaria control by 20–50% compared to standard ITNs.

From 2018 to 2022, the project also assessed the cost-effectiveness of its nets. At $2.94 each, the Interceptor G2 net requires an additional $0.66–$3.56. However, it would save national health systems almost $30 million.

Malaria Prevention Efforts

Pyrethroid-only nets have been the go-to malaria prevention tool since 2005. In 2017, WHO began recommending the pyrethroid-PBO nets as a response to resistant mosquitoes. Then, in March 2023, WHO issued varying recommendations for pyrethroid-chlorfenapyr and pyrethroid-pyriproxyfen nets from the New Nets Project. In 2024, 20 African countries will deploy the first malaria vaccine, the RTS,S. The efforts continue.

“The findings of the New Nets Project demonstrate the value of investments into state-of-the-art tools in the fight against malaria,” said Michael Charles, CEO of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria. “We always say that there is no silver bullet to eliminating malaria, and we cannot rely on single interventions, but rather invest in a suite of tools, which, when combined, will have the biggest impact on defeating this disease.”

Nazalea Kusuma

Managing Editor at Green Network Asia | Website | + posts

Naz is the Manager of International Digital Publications at Green Network Asia. She is an experienced and passionate writer, editor, proofreader, translator, and creative designer with over a decade of portfolio. Her history of living in multiple areas across Southeast Asia and studying Urban and Regional Planning exposed her to diverse peoples and cultures, enriching her perspectives and sharpening her intersectionality mindset in her storytelling and advocacy on sustainability-related issues and sustainable development.