Over the past several months we have been working closely with our incredible partners–the Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District, the Anastasia Mosquito Control District, and the University of Bamako–to plan the implementation of western-style mosquito abatement in Mali and to study its effectiveness. Now that the shipping container has arrived with the necessary supplies, we have been hard at work preparing.
Ouelessebougou Alliance is coordinating this research to prove that western-style mosquito abatement will reduce the incidence of malaria in Mali–one of the places with the highest rates of malaria contraction in the world. Most Malians contract malaria once a year. The result of the research will demonstrate that western-style mosquito abatement techniques will reduce the incidence of malaria in the region, reducing infant and adult mortality. Saving lives.
In a few months, Anounou Sissoko, the malaria control project field manager, will come to the USA to be trained in mosquito sample collection and the application of insecticide to reduce the malaria-infected mosquito populations. He will spend a few weeks learning these techniques under the guidance of Dr. Whitney Qualls at the Anastasia Mosquito Control District in Florida and with Dr. Greg White and Jason Hardman at the Salt Lake Mosquito Control District in Utah. With these skills, he will return to Mali to train the local technicians who will carry out the project in conjunction with the University of Bamako’s epidemiologists.
A team of researchers and support staff from the US will travel to Mali in June, including Dr. Qualls, Dr. White, and Jason Hardman. They will be joined by staff and board members from Ouelessebougou Alliance. The mosquito abatement experts are donating their time and taking their vacation days to be a part of this life-changing project.
The US team will join the project field manager Anounou, the newly trained technicians, as well as Dr. Mohamed M. Traore from the University of Bamako and other University of Bamako epidemiologists. The full team will start by inspecting the identified five villages that will have western mosquito abatement techniques implemented and the five villages that will act as the control group for the study. Then the team will begin the ongoing process of collecting mosquito samples, testing to see if they are malaria carrying and applying treatment to infected mosquito populations. The US team will spend 2 weeks in the Ouelessebougou region of Mali ensuring that the research process is on track before they leave. The work will continue through the end of the rainy season, typically around the end of September.
Once the research is completed for this ground-breaking project, the team will publish their findings. Since these malaria control methods are already proven in the US and throughout the western world, there is a high probability that they will be effective in Mali. With positive findings in hand, we plan to partner with larger organizations to scale the project across southern Mali and potentially jumpstart similar projects throughout the African continent.
We look forward to providing a follow-up report as we prove the efficacy of this project. Thank you for supporting this life-saving endeavor.
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