Interim recommendation for mosquito net with new class of insecticide
Frankfurt — A new mosquito net made by German chemicals company BASF has been given an interim recommendation by the World Health Organisation (WHO), containing a new class of insecticide that the company hopes will aid the fight against malaria. Death rates from malaria have dropped by 60% since 2000, according to the WHO, but attempts to end one of the world’s deadliest diseases — which kills about 430,000 people a year — are under threat as mosquitoes become increasingly resistant to measures such as insecticide-treated bed nets and antimalarial drugs. BASF’s new net is based on chlorfenapyr, which has been used in agriculture and urban pest control for over two decades, but BASF reworked it to make it effective on mosquito nets and meet targets for the public health market. It said the net will provide protection for at least three years or 20 washes. The new Interceptor G2 insecticide-treated net is expected to be available to health ministries and aid organisations from toward...
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