Insecticide-treated Bednets Use as an Environment Friendly Method for Malaria Control

CHARU KOHLI; Jugal Kishore

Abstract

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Malaria is a mosquito-borne public health problem in 90 countries worldwide affecting at least 300 million people annually. The disease imposes economic burden on families, business, health system, government budget and is associated with poverty, poor health, and malnutrition among children. Among the various methods available for mosquito control, use of mosquito nets, especially when treated with insecticides, provide the safest, cheapest, effective, free of side-effects, environment friendly, and easy to use method benefitting the individual as well as the community. Other methods of personal protection like mosquito coils, mats, repellents, liquid vaporisers, and insecticides like DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) are associated with hazards to human health and the environment. Therefore, strategies like social marketing and an effective mass awareness program are required to promote the large scale use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITN). Keywords: Malaria, insecticide-treated bed nets, hazards, mosquito repellents