a child sits under a treated mosquito net

WHO on Thursday approved a new mosquito net made by German chemicals company BASF.

WHO said that the net, contains a new class of insecticide that the company hopes will aid the fight against malaria.

According to WHO, death rates from malaria have dropped by 60 per cent since 2000.

The UN orgnisation said attempts to end one of the world’s deadliest diseases, which kills around 430,000 people a year, are under threat as mosquitoes become increasingly resistant to measures such as insecticide-treated bed nets and anti-malarial drugs.

BASF’s new net is based on chlorfenapyr, which has been used in agriculture and urban pest control for over two decades, but BASF reworked it to make it effective on mosquito nets and meet targets for the public health market.

BASH said the net will provide protection for at least three years or 20 washes.

The new Interceptor “G2” insecticide-treated net is expected to be available to health ministries and aid organisations from toward the end of this year, BASF said.

BASF is also waiting for the WHO to evaluate another chlorfenapyr product, an indoor spray for walls and ceilings called Sylando 240SC.

“This development breakthrough strengthens my personal belief that we really can be the generation to end malaria for good,” Egon Weinmueller, head of BASF’s public health business, said.

(Reuters/NAN)