Unitaid announces an additional US$18 million in funding to Cameroon-based implementer Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID) to advance access to spatial repellents and expand the WHO recommendation.
Geneva, 13 August – A new vector control tool known as spatial repellent has shown strong promise in protecting people from malaria, according to research funded by Unitaid. This evidence has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommend its use alongside insecticide-treated nets. This small device, also called spatial emanator, is designed to be hung on walls indoors, and it gradually releases active ingredients into the air that kill mosquitoes or prevent them from biting.
Building on these results, Unitaid is launching a new US$18 million investment to generate further evidence to expand the potential use of spatial repellents, including as a standalone intervention and in diverse settings.
Vector control tools – such as insecticide-treated nets or indoor residual spraying – remain a cornerstone of the global malaria response, helping to avert hundreds of millions of cases in malaria endemic countries. But their effectiveness is declining as mosquitoes become increasingly resistant to insecticides, evolve their behavior, or expand their range due to urbanization, climate change, and other factors. As progress against malaria stalls, new tools are needed more urgently than ever to outpace the rapidly evolving malaria parasite and the mosquitoes that spread the disease.
WHO’s conditional recommendation for the use of spatial repellents alongside insecticide-treated nets marks a major step forward in expanding the malaria prevention toolbox. WHO has also issued a quality approval called prequalification for two spatial repellent products, Mosquito Shield and Guardian, manufactured by SC Johnson & Son, Inc. – an essential step that enables international procurement agencies to purchase the products and help expand access for malaria-affected communities.
“Unitaid is proud to have supported the research that confirmed the promise of spatial repellents, the first new class of vector control intervention in decades. Spatial repellents open new pathways for protecting people from malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases. Our focus now is to accelerate access to ensure that these lifesaving tools reach affected communities faster.”
Dr. Philippe Duneton
Executive Director at Unitaid
This intervention may prove particularly useful in providing protection when people are not under a net or where other tools, such as insecticide-treated nets or indoor residual spraying, are hard to implement. Because they don’t come into direct physical contact with people, spatial repellents can be more easily updated with different insecticides helping to keep pace with insecticide resistance.
The WHO recommendation is largely based on evidence from Unitaid’s AEGIS (Advancing Evidence for the Global Implementation of Spatial Repellents) project, led by the University of Notre Dame. An AEGIS clinical trial conducted in Kenya clearly demonstrated that spatial repellents, when used alongside insecticide-treated nets, reduced malaria cases by one third.
To further evolve the evidence-base on spatial repellents, particularly on their potential stand-alone use, Unitaid has launched a new US$18 million investment, with an additional complementary investment under negotiation. The five-year project Catalyzing the Adoption of a Novel Vector Control Toolbox (CANVeCT) will be led by the Cameroon-based Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID) in collaboration with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).
The project, implemented in Cameroon, will generate additional evidence to inform the evolution of WHO’s recommendation for the use of spatial repellents, while also exploring their effectiveness in humanitarian settings. Determining whether spatial repellents work as stand-alone tools is particularly important amid deepening global funding cuts – making layering multiple interventions increasingly unaffordable for most national malaria programs.
CANVeCT, a major investment led by a south-based implementer in a malaria-endemic country, underscores the importance of country ownership and leadership in addressing one of the most urgent health challenges in sub-Saharan Africa, where over 90% of global malaria deaths occur. To support its goal of ensuring equity and sustainability, Unitaid is increasing the proportion of its funding directed to south-based institutions.
“Spatial repellents have the potential to accelerate malaria elimination efforts. We are glad to have been awarded this project by Unitaid and look forward to generating the evidence needed for a full recommendation by WHO, which will help catalyze their adoption for malaria control."
Professor Charles Wondji
Executive Director at CRID, and research lead for CANVeCT
Notes to the editor
Spatial repellents
Spatial repellents are tools that release airborne active ingredients into the air that kill mosquitoes, deter them from entering treated spaces, or prevent them from locating and biting human hosts. By reducing human–mosquito contact, they help prevent malaria transmission. Spatial repellents provide protection against mosquito bites when residents of a household may not be protected by an insecticide-treated net.
WHO conditional recommendations
A WHO conditional recommendation is issued when a Guideline Development Group determines that the benefits of an intervention likely outweigh its disadvantages, but some uncertainty remains. Conditional recommendations generally specify the conditions under which the intervention should be implemented and support early adoption while further research should be conducted to strengthen the evidence base.
WHO prequalification programme
The WHO prequalification programme assesses the quality, safety and efficacy of each submitted product. The complete WHO Public Assessment Reports can be found on the product pages for each product in the list of prequalified Vector Controlled Products.
The AEGIS project
The AEGIS (Advancing Evidence for the Global Implementation of Spatial Repellents) project, funded by Unitaid and led by the University of Notre Dame, generated critical evidence in a clinical trial conducted in Kenya, which significantly contributed to WHO’s conditional recommendation.
Kyle Wilkinson, Communications officer
Mobile: +41 79 445 17 45
Email: wilkinsonk@unitaid.who.int
