Zoomlion And Stakeholders To Use WHO Recommended Biological Agent For Mosquito Control

The Vector Control unit of waste management giant, Zoomlion Ghana Limited in collaboration with the Ministry of Health is set to use Bacillus thuringiensis var israelensis (Bti) which is a biological agent recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as efficient to control outdoor mosquitoes.

BTI is a bacterial agent that kills mosquito at the larvae stage during the process of larviciding at mosquito breeding sites before they develop into adult mosquitoes. The use of BTI has been touted by the World Health Organization as environmentally safe and does not emit toxins that threaten human and aquatic lives.

A senior Research Assistant with the Entomology team of Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Mr. Andy Asafu-Adjaye who disclosed this during a training program held in Sunyani for Zoomlion staff and stakeholders in the malaria control exercise indicated that on-going research is revealing that mosquitoes are developing some resistance to some class of insecticides used for indoor residual spraying and the use of long-lasting insecticide nets, hence the need to complement these efforts by using a safe biological agent such as BTI to kill mosquitoes at the larvae stage.

He said the Ministry of Health in partnership with Zoomlion Ghana limited is undertaking larvae source management activities in the various assemblies to complement interventions such as indoor residual spraying and the use of long-lasting insecticide nets to help control mosquitoes that transmit malaria, yellow fever among other deadly diseases.

The Brong Ahafo Regional Environmental Health Director, Mr. Isaac Richmond Mensah expressed his excitements about the effective collaboration with Zoomlion to impact modern knowledge in stakeholders and help address environmental health challenges.

The Head of Vector Control Unit of Zoomlion, Rev. Ebenezer Kwame Addae explained that participants of the training programme which included Malaria Focal persons, Health promotion officers, District Environmental Health officers and staff of Zoomlion Ghana limited within the various districts in the Brong Ahafo region were exposed and trained on effective larval source management.

He said the scientific knowledge gain from the training will enable participants to enhance their delivering of larviciding activities in our communities and improve the health conditions of residents in the Brong Ahafo region.