Progress in malaria control in the past decade can be attributed largely to the massive scale-up of insecticide-based interventions, including insecticidal bed nets and indoor sprays. These tools have helped save hundreds of thousands of lives. But the emerging and rapid spread of insecticide resistance threatens the utility of these tools whose effectiveness must be maintained if global progress against malaria is to be sustained and increased.
Accurate Information Guides Decision-Making
Urgent action is required to prevent resistance from emerging at new sites, and to maintain the effectiveness of vector control interventions. Malaria control policy makers and researchers need to be able to visualize and explore up-to-date information on insecticide resistance so they can ensure the right insecticidal tool is used in the right place at the right time. With increased attention to monitoring the spread of insecticide resistance, the volume and complexity of the data set is expected to increase rapidly. To make the most of available information, an interactive map of all publically-available insecticide resistance data has been developed.
Interactive Online Tool Offers Direction
The interactive website, (www.irmapper.com), identifies locations in malaria-endemic countries where mosquitoes have developed resistance to the insecticides used in bed nets and indoor residual sprays. The online tool consolidates published data on insecticide susceptibility and resistance mechanisms from 1959. The mapping function allows filtering and projection of data based on a set of user-directed criteria. For instance, users can examine the resistance status of single or multiple Anopheles mosquito species to one or more insecticides within their region of interest. This can be the basis for a “go” or “no go” decision on a particular insecticide for deployment on nets or in sprays. Data can also be viewed for specified time periods, to identify any existing trends in resistance over time. Vestergaard launched IR Mapper, which was created in collaboration with the Kenya Medical Research Institute and Esri, a leading GIS mapping software manufacturer.
“Malaria control policy makers and researchers need to be able to visualize and explore up-to-date information”