Bednet design keeps families safe from insecticide

A simple addition to the traditional bednet design helps communities avoid malaria from insecticide-resistant mosquitoes

Spotted: An insecticide-treated panel, installed vertically above a bednet, has proven extremely effective in killing malaria-spreading mosquitoes. Developed by a team from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, the “Barrier Bednet” even worked on a new breed of insecticide-resistant mosquitoes. A simple, yet incredibly effective solution, the Barrier Bednet could help reduce costs, as well as keeping people safer.

As the additional panel is located at the top of the bednet, it is rarely touched during routine daily activities. This allows a stronger dosage of insecticide to be used on the panel, without compromising the health of the household’s occupants. Researchers tested the panel in Burkina Faso and found that even when the barrier panel was the only part of the bednet treated with insecticide, it proved effective at killing malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

By treating only the new, vertical panel of a bednet with insecticide, the cost of treated bednets should also be lower, making the design popular and improving the overall long-term health outcomes of at-risk communities.

Other innovations aiming to improve health, spotted by Springwise, include eye drops that stop retinal damage in diabetics and a machine-learning algorithm that detects Alzheimer’s up to six years before a human can see it on a brain scan.