USA — In the relentless battle against malaria, a glimmer of hope has emerged, and it comes in the form of SC Johnson’s groundbreaking spatial repellent, Guardian.
Recent field testing has revealed that this innovation, designed to repel disease-carrying mosquitoes, boasts an astonishing efficacy that spans an entire year.
It’s a development that has the potential to transform the fight against malaria, a disease that continues to afflict millions worldwide.
Spatial repellents are user-friendly products that can be easily hung in semi-enclosed spaces, including homes, schools, and humanitarian settings, offering a protective shield against mosquitoes.
While the global fight against malaria has seen progress, the latest World Malaria Report paints a sobering picture.
The estimated number of malaria-related deaths in 2021 was 619,000, compared to 625,000 in the previous year. These numbers underscore the persistent threat of this deadly disease.
The World Health Organization estimates there were 241 million cases of malaria worldwide in 2020. Of those, 95% of the cases and 96% of the deaths were in Africa.
East Africa, which includes Tanzania, is particularly embattled when it comes to the spread of the disease, and scientists fear the situation is getting worse as the climate changes.
The significance of Guardian’s efficacy cannot be overstated. It covers multiple rainy seasons, a period when the risk of mosquito-borne diseases, including malaria, soars.
SC Johnson’s Chairman and CEO, Fisk Johnson, expressed the game-changing potential of Guardian, stating, “We think we can make a big difference in eradicating malaria on this planet and we are making progress.
“We are hopeful that having a long-lasting tool you can hang in your home, and combine with other measures, will help significantly in this fight.”
SC Johnson is actively working to secure a policy recommendation from the World Health Organization (WHO) for spatial repellents, a move that could mark a pivotal moment in malaria prevention, as these would be the first recommended tools in 25 years.
In the meantime, the company is providing Guardian to at-risk populations through global public health partners.
Furthermore, SC Johnson is gearing up for large-scale manufacturing of spatial repellents in Kenya, set to commence in 2024.
The potential impact of Guardian is vast. “There are over a billion people that would benefit from mosquito protection in an easy-to-use form,” noted Richard Allen, Director of The MENTOR Initiative, a partner organization of SC Johnson that operates in high-risk and humanitarian settings to combat malaria.
“People want a tool they can take off the shelf, unpack it, hang it up themselves, and know that it will work. Frankly, SC Johnson’s is the first tool I’ve seen in 36 years that has the promise of doing that.”
SC Johnson’s commitment to fighting malaria stretches back over 60 years, with the company’s Center for Insect Science and Family Health in Racine, Wisconsin, being one of the world’s largest privately-funded urban entomology centers.
Their dedication to eradicating malaria is unwavering, with a specialized team dedicated to this cause.
Importantly, their efforts have never been driven by profit motives but rather by a profound mission to marshal their resources, capabilities, and expertise in the battle against this insidious disease.
Field testing for Guardian took place at the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) in Tanzania from 2022 to 2023, focusing on a wild population of highly pyrethroid-resistant Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes.
The race to SDG 3
As the world strives to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3), which includes ending AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria by 2030, the stakes have never been higher.
Despite commendable progress against these deadly infectious diseases, the impact of Covid-19 has posed significant challenges.
While we have regained some ground lost during the pandemic, achieving the goal of eradicating these diseases by 2030 hangs in the balance and requires extraordinary efforts.
The challenges extend beyond Covid-19. Climate change, conflicts, debt crises, erosion of human rights, and deepening inequities within and between countries have compounded the struggles in many nations where the fight against HIV, TB, and malaria rages on.
These crises disproportionately affect the most vulnerable and marginalized populations, placing them at even greater risk of these deadly infectious diseases.
Climate change is already altering the landscape of infectious diseases, such as malaria, which is spreading to regions previously deemed too cold for disease-carrying mosquitoes.
Extreme weather events, driven by climate change, lead to spikes in malaria infections and disrupt vital health services.
Conflicts, often fueled by competition for climate-related resources, further damage health infrastructure, overwhelm healthcare systems, and hinder disease prevention efforts.
In this complex and challenging landscape, the fight against malaria requires not only innovative solutions like Guardian but also a holistic approach that addresses the multitude of factors impacting the spread and control of the disease.
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