UN Youth Articles

A Partner for NetWorks

The NetWorks mandate adopted at the FAWCO 2005 Birmingham Conference was based on the desire to supply insecticide treated bed nets (ITNs) as the most cost- efficient method for the prevention of malaria. We wanted a project with which we could closely identify and that addressed the concerns of FAWCO’s Global Committees; Environment, Health, Peace through Knowledge as well as NetWorks. Nets are just one aspect of malaria prevention and their effectiveness can be greatly increased by taking an integrated and sustainable approach to malaria prevention. We wanted a project that would support our net distribution with a comprehensive integrated approach to malaria reduction.

BioVision

After a careful and thorough search, the FAWCO board agreed that the foundation Biovision would be the ideal partner for our malaria net distribution. BioVision is a non-profit foundation monitored and certified by ZEWO (member of the ICFO International Committee on Fund Raising Control). It is an apolitical and independent Swiss foundation without any religious affiliation and with a global mandate to alleviate poverty and disease and improve the livelihoods of people living in extreme poverty, while maintaining the precious natural resource base that sustains life. Its activities in Africa concentrate on improving human, animal, plant and environmental health - with a special focus on women and youth - through the dissemination of appropriate development methods and capacity building at the community level. BioVision’s mission is to "Think and Act Ecologically". The BioVision Foundation strives to make long term research in the field of biological pest control accessible to poor people in developing countries and transferring this know-how to the broad population and to establishing and maintaining the necessary communication channels with the researchers.

The Integrated Approach

BioVision uses an integrated approach to malaria prevention which besides ITNs, involves the use of natural pesticides to treat the water born larvae, the removal of breeding sites, educating and involving the recipients and village leaders in decision making and encouraging responsibility.  FAWCO will be taking over ITN supply for two malaria control projects financed by Biovision in Malindi and Nyabondo, Kenya where malaria is the main vector born disease. In reaching our NetWorks fund-raising goal, FAWCO will be able to cover the entire 2006 budget for nets for both the Malindi and the Nyabondo projects. Since mosquitoes cannot be completely eliminated, the distribution and the proper use of ITNs among the population in the endemic areas is vital.

Nyabondo
Nyabondo is located in the western highlands above Lake Victoria and covers an area of 30 km2. A large part of Nyabondo is a plain above the Rift Valley with black cotton soil. The clay is used for the production of bricks which is an important source of income. Rain water accumulates in the thousands of the man made pits created in brick production offering ideal breeding habitats for the larval stages of the Anopheles mosquitoes. There are an estimated 35000 people living within the project zone. Each year the local mission hospital and the three dispensaries treat 7’000 to 8’000 cases of malaria with pregnant women and children under 5 years especially at risk.

Malindi
Malindi is on the coast of the Indian Ocean; approximately 100 km north of Mombassa and the project covers 16 km2 and is typical for an urban/suburban area with the old center being very densely populated. The total population of Malindi is estimated in the range of 80’000 people. Malaria is a huge problem here and the immature stages of the vector mosquitoes colonize many different breeding sites, most of them man-made.

Project goals

The goal of the Biovision projects is the transfer of acquired knowledge to the field in order to reduce the vector populations by integrated control measures. The integrated fight against the mosquitoes is based on:

1. Treatment of breeding sites with Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti), an environmentally-friendly natural pesticide of high specificity and efficacy, killing the water borne larval stages of Anopheles.
2. Breeding site reduction with water management and the use of neem tree shavings.
3. In-house protection with insecticide treated nets (ITNs).
4. Close collaboration with and support by the local population and authorities.

Education, local empowerment and the use of ecologically-friendly pest control methods are major pillars of the projects. Although the vector mosquitoes can not be completely eradicated, a mosquito reduction of at least 90% is the anticipated goal using the above control measures.  Such a reduction will lead to a significant reduction in malaria cases or could even lead to an interruption in the transmission potential.

Present Status

In Nyabondo the coverage with ITNs is about 13,000 nets or just above 50% of the population. The nets have to be impregnated with insecticide prior to use. The insecticidal activity lasts for 6 months, then the nets have to be treated again with a fresh insecticide solution. The nets with short term persistence were chosen for financial reasons and because of availability. The project in Malindi has not as yet been supplied with nets and net distribution is planned for the second half of 2006. The goal for 2006 is complete coverage of the population of Nyabondo and Malindi with ITNs as well as an insecticide re-treatment campaign. The centralized distribution of nets is logistically demanding. All the recipients of nets are registered. The people have to be instructed in the proper treatment of the nets with the insecticide according to the WHO protocol. Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets have so far only been distributed through the Ministry of Health to pregnant mothers and children under five years, the most vulnerable group to malaria. It is however doubtful that all of this group has access to LLITNs.

Net Supply

FAWCO will be financing the supply of ITNs through BioVision, based on the principle of self
help. It is BioVision’s policy not to give free nets, but to subsidize the cost of the nets supplied, so that the beneficiaries have to contribute the small amount of 50 ksh = 0.8 USD. This creates the awareness and responsibility of ownership and gives the nets a certain value and importance. Nets are given free to those who are unable to pay the 50 ksh. Those unable to contribute to the purchase are generally families with a great number of children, grandmothers raising children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and older persons without income. Our goal will be immediate net coverage for the entire population with a gradual transition from ITN’s that need re-treatment to the Long Lasting ITNs. The established principle of not giving the ITNs completely free will be maintained, but no one should be excluded from receiving a net for financial reasons.

The FAWCO-BioVision Partnership

FAWCO is very pleased to partner with BioVision and we are thrilled that we have found a foundation in which we are confident, as well as projects that are small enough so as to give us a good over-view of our contribution and expected success and yet large enough to make a big difference in mortality rates. We look forward to working with BioVision in our support of the Millennium Development Goals to reduce malaria incidence and child mortality. For more information on BioVision visit www.biovision.ch.

BioVision, Am Wasser 55, CH- 8049 Zurich, Switzerland
Tel. 41 (0) 44 341 97 18