Imagine a world free from malaria. It's closer than you think, thanks to advancements in insect repellency technology.

LivFul’s vision is to unlock human potential by expanding access to health solutions. When we create access to health innovations for those who need it the most, we create new opportunities for everyone to live to their full potential! This is why we were excited to attend the MIM SOCIETY, 8th Pan-African Malaria Conference in Kigali, Rwanda last week.

Andy Mahler, our Chief Impact Officer, represented LivFul at the conference, which coincided with World Malaria Day this year. The MIM event is only held every three years, making it a periodic snapshot of what technologies and projects are working towards eliminating malaria while bringing together specialists to discuss new opportunities. This year, the theme of the conference was ‘Grassroots Mobilization to end Malaria: Innovations and Ownership’, highlighting the need to accelerate efforts to end malaria for good.

Malaria is a life-threatening mosquito-borne disease caused by parasites transmitted between humans when mosquitos bite. Nearly half of the world’s population is at risk of malaria, and it disproportionally affects children under 5 and pregnant women. The WHO Africa region is the hardest hit, with 93.6% of malaria cases and 95.4% of malaria deaths globally in 2022. Almost 80% of those deaths were in children under 5 years of age.

‘It was a fantastic event to connect with some important partners for LivFul’s future, both ones we currently know and work with, and potential new connections.’ Said Andy Mahler, ‘I found it good to catch up with people, like Jutta Reinhard-Rupp , Professor Samuel Dadzie and Dr Geraldine Foster from the World Health Organization and work out how we can use our alignment to create health access to advance technologies against malaria.’

Andy noted that there was a focus on protecting pregnant women and technologies to help protect outside of the home at the event, noting that the majority of existing innovations are focused on indoor protection. With Climate Change becoming a bigger issue, several questions were asked about how we can protect against mosquito bites outside of the home. It is evident that collaboration and grass-roots connections are key to this essential work, and while there have been some significant improvements using the current tools, they are not enough to fully eliminate malaria in Africa.

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"No malaria tool stands alone. The highest impact can be achieved when a mix of malaria interventions are used together” - Dr Mary Hamel, World Health Organization.

This is where LivFul’s Enhanced Insect Repellent (EIR) comes in. Our EIR uses a patented technology, STAYTEC™, that controls the release of our chosen active ingredient, IR3535® by Merck KGaA, so that it repels mosquitos for up to 14 hours!

It is also designed to reduce the amount of repelling active ingredient absorbed into the skin, leaving it where it should be, and maximizing its efficacy.

The well-known high safety profile of IR3535® and our STAYTEC™ technology make EIR a smooth, hypoallergenic* lotion safe for everyone from 2 months old, including pregnant and breastfeeding women. This long-lasting repellent can be part of the combined solutions against malaria, by stopping the bite that could transmit the disease.

LivFul is working and collaborating to see our EIR support the fight against malaria, and other mosquito–borne diseases, through testing, trials, and Governmental elimination programs. We are committed to working with partners that we’ve met at MIM to make a lasting impact on malaria.

IR3535 is a trademark of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

#Malaria #MIM2024 #LivFul #EnhancedInsectRepellent #WorldMalariaDay2024 #AfricaEndingMalaria

* The product contains low levels of cetyl alcohol. Trace amounts of allergens exist in the fragrance. However, our test results, by an independent lab show that these trace amounts are insignificant. A fragrance-free formulation is available upon request.

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