IVCC was delighted to welcome a delegation from the Labour Party, including Kim Johnson MP, Paula Barker MP, and Dr Zubir Ahmed a Labour PPC to Liverpool to meet representatives from IVCC and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM).
Accompanied by Astrid Bonfield, CEO of Malaria No More UK and Anyika Onuora, Olympic athlete and Malaria No More UK ambassador and staff from both LSTM and IVCC, the Labour Party delegation heard about the innovative vector control pipeline that IVCC is developing. For example, the impact of IVCC’s long held strategic aim to bring new active ingredients (AIs) to the insecticide-treated net (ITN) market was highlighted by the evidence and policy endorsement of BASF’s Interceptor® G2.
The group also heard about evidence developed on the efficacy of outdoor tools by Project Bite Interruption Toward Elimination (BITE) and Newly Adapted Tools Network Against vector-borne disease Transmission (NATNAT) has enhanced the evidence base for these new product categories, through the Indo-Pacific Initiative (IPI.
These, and other success storied, showcased the importance of collaborative working and how the commitment of our partners from industry, academia, the public sector, and advocacy, make life-saving vector control possible.
The guests also visited the Liverpool Insect Testing Establishment (LITE) which supports the testing of insecticide-based products for commercial partners against insecticide-resistant colonies. LITE maintains a range of insecticide susceptible and resistant colonies of mosquitoes and provides a range of approaches for insecticide efficacy testing. The guests closed the day with a visit to LSTM’s venom unit which houses the largest and most diverse collection of tropical venomous snakes in the UK and leads pioneering research into a universal anti-venom and improvements in the efficacy, affordability and safety of snakebite treatments.
Photo caption: The delegation poses at the entrance of the LSTM buildings.
From left to right: David Lalloo (LSTM Director), Paula Barker MP, Dr Zubir Ahmed, Astrid Bonfield (Malaria No More UK CEO), Anyika Onuora, Professor Martin James Donnelly (Head of Vector Biology Department, LSTM), Justin McBeath (IVCC CEO) and Kim Johnson MP.
Credit: LSTM/ Alejandra Cardona-Mayorga
