Press Release

United States Agency for International Development
                                                                                                                          

September 11 2009

Contacts:  John Warner – Public Affairs Officer
                 Mayeso Chirwa – Information Specialist
                 Ulemu Malindi – Development Outreach and Communications Specialist, USAID

Third- round of indoor residual spraying (IRS) conducted in Nkhotakota District

On September 14th, the third round of the Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) program, one of the 4 technical components of the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) in Malawi, began in Nkhotakota District. 

In October of 2007, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through PMI and in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH), launched the first large-scale indoor residual spraying activity in Malawi’s history.  Last year the program sprayed 28,000 households with insecticide to reduce the transmission of malaria. The activity was met with widespread support from the community, who experienced immediate benefits from the program.

Indoor residual spraying coats the inside walls of houses with a safe insecticide to kill mosquitoes that spread malaria and protect inhabitants from getting bitten.  In the short time since it began, the spraying program has already affected the lives of thousands of Malawians.  Research conducted in Nkhotakota District shows that small children living in the sprayed area are 44% less like to suffer from anemia than those living outside the area.  Anemia is a proxy indicator for malaria prevalence in children.   
USAID will continue to support this successful effort to fight malaria in Malawi.  This year, USAID and the MOH will be spraying all of Nkhotakota District, ensuring that every child in the district will sleep in a home protected from the malaria mosquito. IRS is just one of the successful activities that USAID supports in Malawi.  Other activities include the procurement and distribution of insecticide treated bed nets and malaria drugs, amongst others.

PMI is a collaborative U.S. Government effort targeting 15 African countries led by USAID in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of State, and others.  Funding for this historic worldwide initiative is 1.2 billion over five years and is expected to increase from $300 million in 2008 to $500 million by 2010.  USAID has provided approximately $18 million per year for malaria prevention and treatment efforts in Malawi since 2007.