Syngenta + Nothing But Nets’ work in Hispanola

Syngenta, one of the world’s leading agriculture companies and malaria-control innovators, has joined the global fight to wipe out malaria from the island of Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic).

The Swiss-based firm recently partnered with Nothing But Nets and Malaria Zero – a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-led consortium comprised of local ministries of health, NGOs, and universities –  to protect more than 20,000 Haitian households through indoor insecticide spraying.

Syngenta donated 5,000 bottles of ACTELLIC® 300CS, an innovative insecticide that offers malaria protection for up to nine months. In Fall 2018, the insecticide was sprayed on the interior walls of close to 9,000 homes in Grand Anse, a remote region in southwest Haiti that carries more than half of the country’s malaria burden.

Malaria Zero tested the efficacy of the insecticide by introducing susceptible (not resistant) mosquitoes to the treated walls one week post-spraying. In 100% of cases, these mosquitoes died after being exposed to the Actellic® 300CS -treated walls. In 2019, Malaria Zero will use its remaining stock to spray an additional 12,000+ homes in Grand Anse.

Overall, Syngenta’s donation will protect close to 100,000 Grand Anse residents and is expected to significantly reduce the vector populations and malaria incidence in the region.

For Malaria Zero, this 2-year spraying campaign is a critical piece of a comprehensive strategy that aims to wipe out malaria, first in Grand Anse and then throughout Hispaniola. Eliminating the disease on the island would effectively make the Caribbean a malaria-free zone, which would be a major global health milestone.

Actellic® 300CS has already been used successfully in 32 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa and protected more than 30 million people from malaria in 2018. According to Syngenta, the use of Actellic® 300CS has led to significant reductions in malaria transmission: almost 40% in Eastern Zimbabwe, 60% in Northern Ghana, and 14 times lower risk of transmission in Central-West Senegal.

Syngenta and other agrochemical companies play a paramount role in the push to eradicate malaria worldwide. These companies continue to bring innovative vector control products to market that overcome mosquito resistance to existing insecticides. These products are currently applied to millions of bed nets and interior walls each year.

Last year, Syngenta – along with fellow Nothing But Nets partners Sumitomo and BASF, and other agrochemical companies – signed the ZERO by 40 declaration, which reaffirmed their long-term commitment to research and develop innovative vector control tools.

Supported by the Innovative Vector Control Consortium and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, ZERO by 40 brings these companies together under a common set of principles and around one overarching goal: to eradicate malaria by the target year of 2040.