Public Health in Practice

1
Public Health in Practice

• Mosquito Nets

2
Introduction

• Obviously, a mosquito net offers protection
  against mosquitoes and other tiny, biting
  insects.
• When used properly it stops the spread of
  insect-borne diseases such as Malaria, Dengue
  Fever, Yellow Fever, West Nile and certain forms
  of encephalitis.

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Introduction

• The nets are made from cotton, polyester,
  polyethylene or nylon fibre.
• Polyethylene seems to last the longest.
• Mesh size has to be at least 1.2 mm in order to
  stop mosquitoes.
• A mesh size of 0.6 mm stops other, smaller,
  biting insects.

4
History of Usage

• Mosquito nets have been used throughout modern
  history, particularly with any big building
  project in a tropical region (i.e. Suez Canal
  construction in 1871).

5
History of Usage

• Famous rulers in tropical regions like Cleopatra
  and Shaka are thought to have slept under them.

6
Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs)

• Insecticide treated nets (ITNs) are twice as
  effective as untreated nets and offer up to 70
  greater protection than with no net.
• These nets are the single most effective
  preventative measure against malaria today.

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Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs)

• Most ITNs need insecticide to be re-applied to
  the net after 6 washes (3.00 US).
• Newer long lasting insecticide treated nets
  (LLINs) will give off insecticide for up to 5
  years depending on the material used (5.50 US
  DawaPlus and Olycet).

8
Non-Profit Organizations Helping with this
Initiative
9
Nothing But Nets

• Nothing But Nets is a charitable organization,
  supported by the United Nations, which aims to
  prevent African children from dying of malaria by
  purchasing, distributing and teaching the proper
  use of mosquito bed nets.
• Started by a columnist from Sports Illustrated!

10
Spread the Net

• Spread the Net is a non profit organization in
  collaboration with UNICEF, that raises money to
  give bed nets to people in regions of Africa
  afflicted with malaria.
• Spread the Net was co-founded and is co-chaired
  with Rick Mercer from the Mercer Report, and
  Belinda Stronach, a member of the Canadian
  Parliament from 2004 to 2008.

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Spread the Net

• The goal of Spread the Net is to purchase and
  distribute 500,000 insecticide treated bed nets
  worth about 10 each, for families in Liberia and
  Rwanda.
• The campaign has donated 537,700 nets as of May
  2012.

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Malaria Bites

• The Canadian Red Cross works with Red Cross
  Societies in Africa to provide nets free of
  charge in some of the worlds most
  malaria-affected countries.
• Red Cross has already hand delivered nearly five
  million directly to families in Sierra Leone,
  Zambia, Niger, Mozambique, Malawi, Mali,
  Madagascar, Nigeria and Togo, thanks to the
  generous support of the Canadian International
  Development Agency and Canadian donors.
• This is a 100 Canadian initiative.

13
Buy a Net

• A local Kingston based organization!
• Canada's first citizen driven initiative aimed at
  the prevention of malaria, one village at a time.
• Uganda is the first target country.
• Volunteer driven, registered charitable
  organization.
• In partnership with community based groups,
  long-lasting insecticide treated bed nets and
  anti-malaria medicines are distributed
  free-of-charge.

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Buy a Net

• Mission Statement
• 6 BUCKS, BUY-A-NET, SAVE A LIFE
• Buy-A-Net raises awareness and the funds for the
  procurement of long-lasting, insecticide treated
  bed nets and anti-malaria medicine.

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Buy a Net

• Purpose
• Reduce illness and death due to malaria through
  workable strategies in advocacy, education,
  prevention and treatment.  
• Implement BANs community based model to fight
  the disease.
• Adopt and support the Ugandan Ministry of Health
  and the World Health Organization (WHO)
  guidelines and policies. 
• Share best practices.

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Buy a Net

• What We Do
• Prevent malaria infection through the provision
  of long lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets
  to communities, free-of-charge, and treat malaria
  infections with the provision of anti-malaria
  medications free-of-charge to those community
  based groups that have the capacity to diagnose,
  administer and monitor drug use.
• Educate and promote good health seeking behavior
  for prompt treatment of malaria.
• Engage in seeking out national and international
  partners to maximize technical and financial
  resources, and to share best practices.
• Monitor and evaluate compliance and effectiveness
  of malaria control interventions.

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Homework

• Why is mosquito netting important for those
  people who live in tropical regions?
• What are some of the insect borne diseases that
  mosquito netting help protect against?
• Compare no net, untreated nets, ITNs and LLINs in
  the criteria of price, durability and protection.
• What are some ways, we in Canada, prevent
  mosquito bites? How effective are these methods?