Forging global partnerships for Aedes control tools

Last month, colleagues from IVCC visited Malaysia to help develop partnerships to evaluate and deploy Aedes control tools in the Indo-Pacific.

Partners from Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán in Mexico and Emory University also joined IVCC for the visits to the Vector Control Research Unit (University Sains Malaysia) in Penang and the Institute of Medical Research in Kuala Lumpur, bringing their own experience and expertise in evaluating and implementing novel vector control tools to combat Dengue.

The activity is part of IVCC’s IPI (Indo-Pacific Initiative), which was supported for another five years by the Australian Government through Partnerships for a Healthy Region in 2024, and aims to develop the vector control toolbox for the region.

Climate change, urbanization and human population movement is enabling the spread of the Aedes-borne Dengue virus. Current vector control practices are increasingly compromised by insecticide resistance, while emerging strategies like Wolbachia show promise but face logistical and funding challenges. In this context, IVCC believes that spatial emanators, along with traditional methods using novel chemistry, have an important role to play.

Spatial emanators show great promise as an additional Aedes control tool. Rapidly deployable and installed by the homeowner when there is risk of outbreak, they are relatively inexpensive and have been demonstrated to protect indoor spaces to kill, disarm and repel mosquito vectors.

IVCC hopes to establish a collaboration that leverages the expertise of Malaysian institutions, integrates global knowledge, and provides a platform for testing novel tools against dengue—benefiting the entire region and beyond.