In Papua New Guinea (PNG), a team of researchers is working to better understand how additional mosquito control tools might be able reduce transmission of this deadly disease.
Fittingly, it is called the NATNAT project (natnat means mosquito in Tok Pisin) and stands for Newly Adapted Tools and Network Against Mosquito Borne Disease Transmission.
Led by the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research (PNGIMR) and the National Malaria Control Program with partners from Burnet Institute, James Cook University, the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC), Rotarians Against Malaria and DFAT, NATNAT aims to find effective vector control strategies to control and eliminate malaria.
Vector control tools work by limiting the ability of mosquitoes to bite people by killing or repelling the mosquito when it encounters insecticide-treated surfaces or repellents. This interrupts the transmission cycle of malaria between mosquitos and people.
Vector Borne Diseases and Tropical Public Health Working Group Head, Professor Leanne Robinson is leading the NATNAT project at Burnet and said effective vector control strategies were vital to combating malaria.
“The reason that evaluating additional vector control tools is an important part of Papua New Guinea’s strategic plan to reduce malaria transmission is that it is increasingly recognised that a single intervention is unlikely to result in malaria elimination,” she said.
“Currently, the control program relies on long-lasting insecticide-treated nets as the only vector control intervention and have prioritised this as a gap. NATNAT aims to work with the program to address this by supporting the evidence-based consideration of new vector control tools to reduce transmission.”
To support this research, the NATNAT project has constructed a new entomology laboratory, insectary, and mosquito tunnel cage to gain a more detailed understanding of the effectiveness of vector control tools in combating malaria.
The newly completed PNGIMR Belna Natnat Centre – named ‘Belna’ after the small community where it was built – is the first facility of its kind in the Pacific region.
Professor Robinson said the new facility would allow researchers to breed and release mosquitos in a contained environment that mimics their natural habitat and test the efficacy of vector control tools against local mosquito species.
“This will allow us to test new tools such as spatial repellents,” she said.
Spatial repellents release a volatile compound that repels mosquitos, creating a protective shield around the structure where the device is.
“For the first time, PNG researchers will be able to implement robust testing of existing interventions as well as trialling new interventions against local vector species,” Professor Robinson said.
Professor Robinson said malaria was an enormous burden in PNG, with approximately 1.2 million cases of malaria reported annually.
“Papua New Guinea has made substantial progress in malaria control in the past 15 years, but there is still a need for additional strategies and interventions to complement the existing program interventions of bed nets and effective case management to prevent, detect and treat all infections and accelerate towards zero malaria,” she said.
“The NATNAT project also has relevance for other countries in the region that share common vectors of malaria transmission.”
Professor Robinson said the work being conducted by the research team in PNG would be instrumental in supporting new policies for malaria elimination.
“It is local evidence that drives policy change, so by conducting this type of evidence-based research in the field I think we’re going to see new vector control tools introduced by provincial health authorities to combat malaria, which is incredibly exciting,” she said.