Financial Times Examines Japanese Company’s Long-Lasting ITN

The Financial Times on Wednesday examined Japan-based Sumitomo Chemical's Olyset Net, an insecticide-treated net that the World Health Organization has approved for use over five years to prevent malaria. Olyset Nets are treated with the long-lasting insecticide permathrum, which is woven into the net's fiber. Over time, the permathrum migrates from within the fiber to the surface of the net, ensuring that a new supply of insecticide is moving consistently to replace quantities rubbed off through use. Field testing indicates that Olyset Nets kill 92% of mosquitoes after three minutes of exposure, even seven years after manufacture. The nets are estimated to protect an entire family from malaria transmission for less than $2 annually. Distribution of the nets remains one of Sumitomo's biggest challenges, according to the Times. "Five years ago, it was a question of funding," Sumitomo's Managing Director for Environmental Health Phil Davis said, adding, "Now there is the [Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria] and an awakened global community. The issue today is getting on with it. That means dealing with governments, logistics and distribution to villages without roads. A vaccine can be delivered on a bike, but nets are bulky" (Jack, Financial Times, 9/14).