Dutch invention effective in reducing malaria risk

A Dutch invention proved to be effective in significantly reducing the risk of malaria in a large-scale study in the Ivory Coast. The special ventilation tube for homes, containing a mosquito net impregnated with insecticides, kills malaria-carrying mosquitoes before they enter the home.

These Eave Tubes were invented by a company in Wageningen. The study in the Ivory Coast, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, showed that they, combined with screening, can reduce the spread of malaria by dozens of percentage points, according to the results published in science magazine The Lancet.

The Eave Tubes vent is placed under the eaves of a house, which is otherwise sealed off so that the mosquitoes can only enter the house through the vent. The ventilation tube contains an large amount of insecticides, enough to also kill resistant mosquitoes.

An added bonus is that with the insecticides in the ventilation pipe, the rest of the home remains free of poisons.

Malaria is one of the most common causes of death for young children in Africa. The disease kills hundreds of thousands of children under the age of 5 per year.