Indoor Residual Spraying

Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) is a highly effective method of malaria control recommended by the World Health Organization. Unfortunately it remains underutilized in sub-Saharan Africa, where, each year, malaria kills over a million people and drains the continent of US$12 billion. World Malaria Day 2008 focused on malaria across borders – some of the best cross-border malaria control programs rely heavily on IRS. Yet most donor agencies are loath to strengthen IRS programs in Africa, train medical entomologists to run them, and invest in new insecticides.

This World Malaria Day, AFM issued a Call to Action to support IRS. AFM created an interactive map to indicate which countries are conducting IRS (orange) along with the main financiers - the US President's Malaria Initiative, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, the private sector and/or strong domestic government support. 

AFM summary reports by financier and country can be downloaded below.

In September 2006, Dr Arata Kochi, head of the World Health Organization’s Global Malaria Program, called for an expansion of IRS programs and for DDT to be used in malaria control . Currently, the only donor agency that has heeded this call and is investing substantial resources in IRS is the United States Agency for International Development through the President's Malaria Initiative. Few other donor agencies fund IRS and even the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria, the largest financier of malaria control and treatment programs, funds only a handful of IRS programs. AFM compiled a series of reports on IRS for World Malaria Day 2008:

An AFM IRS Basics report demystifying IRS and discussing frequently asked questions.
A summary of the 2007 World Health Organization IRS report and the President’s Malaria Initiative FY08 IRS activities. [As follow-up to this report, PMI FY10 IRS activities were reviewed in July 2010 and a comparison summary is available here.]
An analysis of Global Fund malaria grants to illustrate how many provided support for IRS. [As follow-up to this report, Rounds 8 & 9 were reviewed in August 2010 and an updated chart is available here.]
An assessment of the private sector’s support for IRS and other malaria interventions.

AFM additionally created 46 country briefs on IRS activities detailing the successes and constraints of these programs.

Angola - Benin - Botswana - Burundi - Cape Verde - Chad - Djibouti - Equatorial Guinea - Eritrea - Ethiopia - Ghana - Kenya - Liberia - Madagascar - Malawi - Mali - Mauritania - Mauritius - Mozambique - Namibia - Rwanda - Sao Tome & Principe - Senegal - Somalia - South Africa - Sudan - Swaziland - Tanzania - Uganda - Zambia - Zanzibar - Zimbabwe

These countries are receiving Global Fund malaria control grants but have not requested support for IRS.

Burkina Faso - Cameroon - Central African Republic - Comoros - Cote d'Ivoire - Democratic Republic of the Congo - Gabon - Guinea - Guinea-Bissau - Niger - Nigeria - Sierra Leone - The Gambia - Togo

Learn more about DDT by watching this Flash Presentation , download our DDT FAQ , or visit our Frequently Asked Questions page where you can also learn more about insecticide resistance.

Check out AFM In Action and learn more about our work!