The National Malaria Control Programme (NAMCOP) and its partners have organised a one-day training workshop for health workers in the control of mosquitoes known as Larval Source Management (LSM).

The LSM is a targeted management of mosquito breeding sites, with the objective of reducing the number of mosquito larvae and pupae. The workshop was held in Bogatanga in the Upper East Region.

The partners are the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) and Zoomlion Ghana Limited (ZGL).

Training

The LSM training, which will be replicated across the country, brought together about 70 health workers from 10 districts in the region.

The participants were equipped with knowledge and techniques in LSM, a vector control tool targeted at mosquito breeding sites, with the aim of reducing mosquitoes in the country.

When appropriately implemented, the LSM can contribute to reducing the number of mosquitoes, and in malaria control it can be a useful addition to programme tools to reduce the mosquito population in remaining malaria ‘hotspots.’

At the opening session, a Senior Research Fellow at NMIMR, Dr Kwadwo Frempong, said it was not the first time his outfit was engaging in such an exercise.

Add-on

He said the exercise basically brought together health workers under the Malaria Control Programme, GHS staff members and Zoomlion workers to undergo training in LSM implementation.

“It involves helping the participants to identify mosquito species and then helping them to know the sources where mosquitoes basically breed,” he explained.

He noted that the training would be an add-on to the malaria control programmes in the country, which were the indoor residual spraying (IRS) and the use of long-lasting insecticide nets (LLINs).

“This Larval Source Management is going to support these two major control programmes,” the research fellow at NMIMR said.

Advantages

According to Dr Frempong, some of the advantages of the LSM included support to the insecticide resistant challenges and also helping to control mosquitoes at the larva stage.

“The LSM also helps control behavioural issues/changes in adult mosquitoes, while the IRS and LLINs only target mosquitoes that rest and feed indoors,” he added.

He said the LSM, when implemented well, would benefit communities, adding that “we can have a community supporting the control of mosquitoes because we have one aspect of it, which is environmental management where the community is involved.”

Speaking to journalists after the workshop, a Senior Vector Control Officer of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Mr Abel Djangmah, described the training as “good and successful.”

Weekly

“Last year, we were using Bacillus thuringiensis substances israelensis (Bti). It works best when you put it into water bodies.

“One challenge that we had with what we were using previously is that the chemical or the biological agent is able to last just within one week. So every week, you have to go and do reapplication,” he said.

That process, Mr Djangmah indicated, was quite exhaustive and time consuming, which put a lot of financial constraints on the project.

Monthly

“But thankfully, this time around, we are shifting from the one-week spraying to monthly larviciding, so instead of doing the spraying every week, the product is able to last within the environment for one month. So after the one-month duration, you go back again and do the reapplication,” he said.

He insisted that “this year’s product has a long lasting effect compared to what was being used previously.”