Indoor residual spraying for prevention of malaria

Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) are the two primary vector control interventions for malaria prevention. Use of LLINs in malaria endemic sub-Saharan Africa has, with support from the Global Fund and other international agencies, become much more common in the past decade. LLINs are deemed a simpler intervention to implement than IRS, whereas IRS has the potential to reduce transmission more rapidly, if campaigns are implemented rigorously and with high levels of household coverage. IRS has some advantages over LLINs for outbreak control but is usually perceived as a time-limited intervention and its application is diffi cult to continue indefi nitely because of high cost implicated. Nevertheless, in 2010 alone, the President’s Malaria Initiative attempted to protect more than 27 million residents of 15 African countries, including Benin, by means of IRS with DDT or pyrethroid insecticides. 1