WORKING WITH YOU
In response to customer needs, Regent Laboratories have developed a range of outsourced services to support your drive to implement Malaria Vector Control Programmes and dramatically reduce the impact of malaria on your workers and local communities.
Our Approach
Many of our clients wish to deliver cost-effective and environmentally aware integrated vector control programmes.
Mining and agriculture sites across the SADC region have over the last 2 years diverted resources to managing Covid-19. The impact has been a spike in breeding mosquitos across the whole of Southern Africa, and this has led to a huge increase in the number of working days lost to malaria; in some cases, over 30% productivity loss (World Health Organisation 2022).
At the same time, certain mosquitoes have developed a resistance to certain pesticides and have moved into areas where previously they did not exist. So, the right surveys must be undertaken, the correct treatments identified, and the best up-to-date products are used.
Climate change has brought about heavier rains, flooding and higher temperatures, creating perfect conditions for a huge surge in mosquito breeding. Breeding sites need to be dealt with through various types of larviciding as part of a holistic approach to malaria prevention, in conjunction with IRS programmes, the distribution of bed nets and the use of personal protection lotions.
Regent Laboratories have developed a range of services that will make your programmes more successful. Our experts will work with you to undertake surveys, design programmes, train operators, provide bioassays, and provide educational support so that everyone in the community is part of the effort to reduce and eradicate malaria.
Contact Us to discuss what levels of service you require. Many services are complimentary if you purchase all your malaria prevention products from us.
The Survey
Working with the on-site customer representatives, Regent Laboratories will undertake a survey and identify the breeding grounds of the mosquitoes. This may be large open spaces of water, swamp land, standing pools of water, ditches, stagnant water in the likes of water tanks or tyres. In fact, anywhere where the mosquitoes lay their eggs and larvae develop into malaria transmitting adults.
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We will then identify all areas and surfaces from which the mosquitoes come into contact with workers and their families. These will include indoor walls such as dormitories, houses, offices or indeed outside places where people are regularly bitten. Special consideration should be given to medical facilities such as hospital wards to protect highly susceptible patients.
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Next, they will ensure a complete review of the personal protection products such as lotions, sprays and bed nets in use, its effectiveness and how they are being used. Often you will see them being used not as bed nets but window covering etc. It will also look at the effectiveness of any personal protection lotions and sprays in use.
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The consultant will identify what training is currently in place for spray operators and what improvements might be required. It is so important to spray properly and use the correct dilutions.
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Lastly we will discuss with the customer representative what education and materials are being provided to the workers and their families. If there is current up to date information on transmission rates, and any other data, this will be reviewed as well.
Programme Design
Based on the information gathered by the survey, a unique programme is designed to meet the needs of the particular environment.
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The correct products will be identified, and as part of the programme, a list of activities including larviciding, Indoor residual spraying, fogging, distribution of bed nets and personal protection lotions, and education needs are set out in a timetable. Seasonality plays a huge part here, so it is important to match activities to the changing seasons.
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All activities are timetabled and all products, spray equipment and educational material fully costed, and supply chain processes agreed and documented.
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It is imperative that the local representatives of the company are fully involved, and their views taken into consideration when building the programme. As always, there will be a need to take the local budgetary concerns into the process, but there also needs to be an understanding of the benefits such as increased productivity because of the reduction in malaria cases, and the impact on the health of the local communities, especially for pregnant women and children.
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Education needs and materials will be identified and working with the local health officials a relevant education programme needs will be agreed along with educational flyers and posters.
Spray Operator Training
It is so important that the spray operators are trained by qualified trainers. Regent Laboratories spray operator training meet the WHO standards and we issue certificates to those that pass the training and qualify.
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It is important that at the beginning of each season refresher courses are given, as it is our experience that in the lapsed time since the last season many of the essential processes are forgotten.
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So much product can be wasted by not applying the larvicides and insecticides in line with recommendation. Frequently we see both a higher use of the product used which wastes money but can also fail to meet environmental standards. Sometimes the product is over diluted with the result that the operation is completely ineffectual and again huge amounts of money are wasted.
Implementation Support
Depending on the level of expert resources that the customer may have, Regent Laboratories offer a complete support programme to ensure that the timetable of activities is delivered on time and to the standard required.
Education
Education is key to the success of these programmes and Regent Laboratories have produced educational material in many languages so that the local health teams can provide them during the sessions with workers and their families.
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Community information flyers are provided in all languages as are our posters to be placed in washrooms and medical facilities.
Monitoring and Continuous Improvement
No programme such as this should go without monitoring to ensure that the products and operations are having the desired effect. With seasonal weather changing frequently due to climate change factors there might be changes to the timetable required, or frequency of certain operations changed.
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The consultant will work with the local customer representative to ensure that the programme is effective and, where required tweaked to continuously improve malaria prevention.