EVENTS

10 Oct, 2011

IRS Workshop, South Africa

Malaria continues to be a major cause of illness and death globally as well as a drain on economic growth and productivity. Indoor residual spraying (IRS) is one of the major primary vector control interventions to rapidly reduce the transmission and incidence of malaria. Several privately funded IRS projects in sub-Saharan Africa have proved to be highly successful in controlling malaria for communities and regions, and companies have benefited from increased productivity and higher returns on investment.

Malaria affects businesses both directly and indirectly, by increasing absenteeism, reducing productivity, and increasing health?care spending. A 2006 Global Health Initiative report found that nearly three quarters of companies in sub-Saharan Africa reported malaria negatively impacted their business, with 39% perceiving the impact as serious. Malaria can also discourage investment and reduce tax revenues, negatively impacting national budgets for public services. Several examples of successful, privately funded malaria projects have shown that community wide IRS programs increase productivity and net revenue. In addition, it enhances the corporate image both nationally and internationally.

The IRS workstream of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership’s (RBM) Vector Control Working Group (VCWG) has been tasked with broadening and deepening private sector involvement in IRS. As part of this activity, this sub group, in partnership with the Global Business Coalition on Health and the Corporate Alliance on Malaria in Africa (CAMA), will hold a 2 day workshop/conference in Johannesburg in October 2011. This workshop/conference aims to highlight the successes to date and to increase the understanding of, and support for, IRS as a highly effective means of securing enhancing private returns on public health investments.

For more information: IRS Workshop, Agenda and Logistics