Public and Government Approach In Mosquito Control Programs

Public and Government Approach in Mosquito Control Programs
Introduction
Malaria is one of the diseases which is threatening millions of children and old people in most parts of the world. First, it has been in existence for a long time hence making it one of the diseases which has many countries huge sums of dollars in prevention and control . Malaria control is done under the influence of diverse conditions ranging from monitoring the breeding habits of the mosquitoes, lifestyles of communities and finally to climatic /environmental attributes.

The aim of this paper is to assess the level of community awareness and the importance of public education in the elimination of mosquito-borne diseases in Queensland. It will discuss the effectiveness of the programs, their advantages and disadvantages with regard to how they are implemented. It will also outline the prevalence rates of mosquito born diseases in Queensland especially with reference to Ross River Virus and others. Finally, it will provide some recommendations on how the programs can be designed and who to include in implementation process making them more efficient in future.

Mosquito control programs
Mosquito control programs in Queensland have been developed in the past and are still being developed to eradicate mosquitoes in homesteads, houses, hospitals and other public places. The programs are drafted and implemented by the Queensland authorities together with health care providers, local councils and the public in general. The problem has however been the rate at which members of the public are accepting and adopting these programs. The communities do not appreciate these programs and they instead use their own knowledge on how they can control and manage mosquitoes in their homes. They have resorted to buying treated nets, repellents and other pesticides to keep mosquitoes off. The programs from the government although being taken in are a second fiddle especially considering the fact that people don't take them seriously

Disease surveillance
Surveillance of any disease is the first line of defence against the disease . In the recent years, there have been many cases of ‘imported diseases' to Queensland especially from Asia and Africa. This is a setback against the fighting against the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. Various groups are currently promoting the idea of disease surveillance in Queensland. A group based in the area by the name Tropical Population Health Network's Communicable Diseases Control Centre is working with communities and local government officials to make sure that all immigrants do not ‘infect' the mosquitoes in Queensland with the virus which will eventually infect the humans. The team from the group above relies mostly on laboratory tests and recommendations from general practitioners on any new case of any mosquito-borne disease .

‘House to house' inspection and checks
In Queensland, mosquito control workers have been licensed to carry out house to house inspections for any breeding sites of mosquitoes. They are the real ‘fire fighting' team who are mandated by the ‘Queensland Health' to curb the spread of mosquitoes through spraying the environments. The program is intended to eliminate specifically the dengue mosquitoes in the houses. The ‘Action Response Team' removes and treats containers that are able to house pupae or larvae of mosquitoes through placement of mosquito traps or interior sprays where they are permitted.

Queensland health worker activities
Queensland health care department has been working hard to meet the environmental requirements that are needed to reduce the inhabitation of mosquitoes especially during the wet seasons. The workers mainly drawn from the health care centres and the council of the area are involved in conducting environmental cleanups. The main activities that are carried out by the groups include; clearing of bushes, draining swampy areas, keeping the environment clean and collecting all forms of waste papers in order to avoid the accumulation of dirt in the compound which may cause pollution

Ross River Virus
Ross River Virus (RRV) is an arbovirus that is very common in Australia. It belongs to the Alphavirus family which is considered endemic going by its spread rate especially in Papua New Guinea, South Pacific and Queensland. In whole of Australia, studies and records have shown that it infected approximately 4,000 people annually between the years of 1995-2004 . Incidentally, the clinical infections of the RRV vary dramatically between the epidemic areas and the endemic zones in Australia making it one of the complex diseases to contain easily (Chapman, 1985). RRV is one of the most common and dangerous disease in Australia related to mosquitoes whereby thousands of clinical cases and symptoms have been related to it. In fact, major outbreaks have been reported in most parts of Australia and specifically in Queensland. The risks are usually great during the wet seasons and that it thrives in areas where high tides have occurred (U.S. Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare, 1977). The major areas that have in the last two years experienced high cases of RRV include; Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

Prevalence rates
Year 2007 2005 2003
Ross River Virus (cases) 2,923 1,457 3353
Barmah Forest virus(cases) 1038 900 1158

Common mosquito borne diseases in the area include ;
• Kunjin
• Ross River virus
• Murray Valley encephalitis
• Barmah Forest virus
• Dengue
• Japanese encephalitis

Pest management
Mosquito control measures and programs have been centred on pest management. The application of internal and external pesticides and repellents to reduce infections by mosquitoes and other insects remains one of the best appreciated programs in Queensland. Pest management activities are outlined by the pest management Act of 2001 which spelt out the circumstances with which the pesticides can be used and under what conditions they can be implemented. The Act specifies that the personnel carrying out these activities must be people who are qualified and are able to teach the communities around how the pest management programs are done.

However, recent studies by a Masters student, Harry at the Queensland University concluded that most people do not actually understand the pest management strategy and what would be the best procedures of application. Harry also found out that the program is getting slow response as the local government do not provide cheaper pesticides and also does not provide the personnel to guide the locals in implementing them . This makes it difficult for the people to adopt the program well

Public education programs
The programs mentioned above have not completely eliminated mosquito breeding in all areas of north and south Queensland hence the need to embark on community education programs. The members of the public are taught on the basics of handling the prevention and control measures of the malaria borne diseases and mosquitoes in general . People are told of the importance of the environment and how they can keep themselves safe from the diseases. The main programs under the educational and resource allocation program within the communities are the use of public relations, brochures and posters, advertisements and other media releases to make the public aware of the prevention and control methods available to them. The programs are intended to provide information sheets and training sessions to local leaders who will thereafter take the message to the rest of the community.

School education programs
School children are also targeted in the fight against mosquito breeding. The programs are conducted through classes and video lessons so that the children are able to educate their parents on new methods of prevention the spread of mosquitoes . Some have schools have gone a step further and are now taking their students through lessons on the importance of keeping mosquitoes away The school educational program is a core unit integrated into the school curriculum by the Department of Education and is to gain effect very soon as many schools have not actually absorbed it.

‘Stop mozzies breeding' campaign
This campaign was launched in 2005 to eliminate mozzies through environmental awareness. The campaigns were centralized to Cairns and Townsville after a survey revealed that only one third of the residents are actually taking steps in eradicating bushes and other containers that breed containers and the rest not taking any action. The campaign featured bin stickers, post cards, fridge magnets and posters. This program has been found to have little impact on the attitudes of the people although it had started with a high note when it was launched by Queensland Health in July, 2005.

Advantages of the current programs
The programs mentioned above which are being carried out by the players in the health care sector has provided some positive implications since the time they were launched. Although there have been some challenges that could not be addressed locally in Queensland, the programs have so far reduced the prevalence rates of mosquito borne diseases in the regions affected . The main advantages of the currents programs are taught they are able to last for a much longer period of time. The training sessions for example, helps people and children to grow up and live aware that mosquitoes are dangerous animals that need to be eradicated.

Use of treated mosquito nets and repellents has also gained popularity and the health department here in Queensland is putting a rough figure of 6% reduction in cases reported this year compared to prevalence figures in 2005 particularly for dengue (Sweeney, 1997). Other mosquito borne may have risen in the prevalence rates due to other reasons including the influx of immigrants into Queensland. The other advantage is that the programs are user friendly and are capable to fit any situation or environment say in hospital, houses or schools. The Queensland health has also provided funds and a reasonable number of personnel to assist local communities implement the recommendations in their guidelines. The programs are in addition to being financially friendly to the communities very flexible in that they are able to eliminate any kind of insect not necessarily against one type of mosquito .

Disadvantages
These programs, the way they are implemented, are not going to eventually curb the spread of mosquito borne diseases. However, it is clear that mosquito spread control and prevention is a war that must be fought from all quotas and by everybody. First, the programs are not receiving the necessary attention from not only the members of the public but also from those implementing them i.e. the authorities. All stakeholders need to be brought on board if meaningful eradication is to be achieved and must be trained on how to undertake the programs. Take for example the house to house inspection program . It would not be possible to go round all houses and buildings doing the inspections because it will be both a waste of time and resources. The proponents of these programs should priorities the education of people on how to handle mosquito prevention. This will be easier and effective. Implementing some of the programs above has also been difficult because the local authorised are using lots of funds on posters, brochures etc which could have been used on policy design and implementations which will last longer and are more appropriate(Olkowski, 1999)



Recommendations
There are various recommendations that can be carried out in order to maximise the use of public education programs in mosquito control. First, the Queensland health should be able to allocate more resources-funds and personnel to train the communities and how to control mosquitoes especially where the literacy levels are low. Secondly, the authorities should be able to expand the scope of the programs by getting more staff to conduct the house to house inspection. The local authorities should also be able to draw good policies that are more educative and also less costly as some of the programs are . Instead of using a lot of funds on posters, brochures and advertisements, the leaders and other stakeholders should be in a position to strictly ensure that all by-laws regarding the mosquito control programs are adhered to . Finally, the people involved in training and educating the public should be in a position to become more responsible and aggressive. This means that the people should be pay more attention and dedicate their energies to the implementation of the programs

Conclusion
The main mosquito control programs being currently undertaken in Queensland include; public education programs, stop mozzies breeding' campaign, pest management, ‘House to house' inspection and checks, disease surveillance among others. All these programs are contained in the Health Management Act of 2000 which was also amended to include the pest management Act of 2001 outlining how the mosquito control programs can be clearly designed, implemented and assessed. Also, the main advantages of the programs are; they are efficient, less costly and easily adopted. The main criticism is the lack of aggressiveness and necessary commitment by all the people involved.

As far as authorities in Queensland are concerned, the fight against the spread of mosquitoes borne diseases is in the right course and that the programs will continue to be reviewed with time.




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