Video: Ghanaian Town Takes on Malaria

A couple in Ghana sits with an insecticide spray technician. / Erin Schiavone, Abt Associates

When it’s a buggy summer day, Americans may dust off the old bottle of Off, or light a citronella candle. Here, a mosquito bite is a nuisance. In many parts of the world, it’s a deadly killer.

In 2012, there were still 207 million cases of malaria and over 600,000 deaths – three quarters were children under 5. Approximately half of the world’s population is still at risk of malaria.

What choices do people in malarial zones have to protect themselves from this flying terror? And what are we doing to help?

One of the most effective methods being supported by the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) around the world is spraying homes in the areas where the mosquitos live with an insecticide.

According to the World Health Organization an estimated 3.3 million lives were saved as a result of the scale-up of malaria control interventions over the last decade. Over the same period, malaria mortality rates in African children were reduced by more than half.

This delivers a massive, concerted blow to the mosquito population. In order to have an impact, indoor residual spraying, as it is called, must be carried out in least 80 percent of the homes in malaria-prone areas, use an effective insecticide and be executed by a well-trained workforce.

In Ghana, the entire population of 25 million is at risk for malaria; indoor residual spraying is helping protect families from this deadly disease. But it doesn’t happen on its own. A network of “social mobilizers” help communities realize the benefits of spraying, and encourage other health-improving behavior as well.

Bertha Moisob a passionate public health advocate working on a PMI-funded program in Ghana says this: