WHO releases new guidance on insecticide-treated mosquito nets

The World Health Organization (WHO) today issued new global guidance for the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets to protect people from malaria. For the first time, WHO recommends that insecticidal nets be long-lasting, and distributed either free or highly subsidized and used by all community members. The long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) are designed to be effective without re-treatment for the life of the net. At around US$ 5 per net, LLINs are a simple and cost-effective intervention against malaria. “This data from Kenya ends the debate about how to deliver long-lasting insecticidal (or just mosquito nets) nets,” said Arata Kochi, head of the WHO’s Global Malaria Programme. Malaria, which is preventable and treatable, still kills more than one million people each year, mainly African children under five years of age.