AFRO-NETS> RFI Source for white mosquito netting (14)

[Lala Msuri <lala_msuri@hotmail.com>]

RFI Source for white mosquito netting (14)
------------------------------------------

Dear Torben,

A few comments on your last message [Source for white mosquito net-
ting (13)]

* You seem to avoid answering specific questions by referring to your 
website but for many Africans it is impossible or very expensive to 
get/stay connected long enough to gather the requested information. 
Therefore it is only fair to all of us concerned that you give us the 
requested data by e-mail (without attachments) instead of advertising 
your company web-site.

* I'm a lucky one and have visited your website. Looking at the re-
sults of your laboratory studies, I was not impressed. A study done 
with only 20 mosquitoes (which type?) can hardly be called serious 
enough to base your results on. Can you indicate the results of field 
trials done with the Permanet used by typical villagers against real 
malaria? (There's a story going around in Tanzania that your WHOPES 
trials gave results no better than normally treated nets.)

* When in your website you speak of ®Savon de Marseille¯ you are 
talking about the ®western¯ soap which may be found in supermarkets. 
African soaps usually contain high levels of caustic soda and no 
lanolin. Did you ever do any washes with local African soaps? If so, 
were the results better or worse when washed with the weak western 
soap (or detergents such as Omo)

* You state that a child has to eat approx. 50 bednets to get a toxic 
dose: Such a statement clearly shows you are unaware/misinformed 
about your data. According to Barlow, Sullivan & Lines (2001)- Risk 
Assessment of the use of deltamethrin on bednets for prevention of 
malaria - oral AEL (acceptable exposure level) is 1 mg/kg/day body 
weight. Each Permanet has about 800 mg on it. For a 10 kg child this 
exceeds even the highest margin of safety, to put it mildly!

Unless you can come up with confirmation that you're using the Olyset 
method or give us data with precise amount of active ingredient com-
ing of the net per wash, I conclude that a Permanet gives unaccept-
able risks to all users, especially to babies (most likely to suck 
the net) as well as the potential environmental impact from the ef-
fluent of washing your over-dosed nets.

Until now, I am not convinced that your sales talk is evidence-based. 
By avoiding giving relevant information and communicating satisfac-
tory results obtained during field trials, you not only make people 
confused but also you have not proved that your product fulfils the 
impossible dream of safe and permanently insecticidal nets.

Lala Msuri
Tanzania
mailto:lala_msuri@hotmail.com

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