The southern African region as a whole has been effected. This is why our three governments have jointly devised an effective programme to contain the epidemic - a programme deemed so important that we have decided to underpin it with this multilateral protocol that is being signed here today. A trilateral task team has been set up as part of the Lubombo SDI to plan and execute a malaria control programme in the three countries concerned. The team, which makes use of senior scientists and experts, will provide protection for rural residents and also for tourists who visit the many game parks and coastal resorts of these regions. By actively identifying cases of malaria and treating these, the team aims to make a major impact on the reduction of the parasite reservoir.
House spraying with synthetic pyrethroids forms the mainstay to mosquito control.
This is an ecologically friendly insecticide and laboratory studies have shown synthetic pyrethroids to be effective in controlling DDT resistant insects. Critical to this will be the involvement of the community through health promotion and education. Apart from its plan to inject a massive level of investment into the Lubombo area, the SDI has already begun to positively impact on its residents' livelihoods. The new national road comes with improvements to a number of secondary roads that will provide access to many of the villages that have been cut off from development opportunities and health services in the past. This new road makes clinics accessible to villages and schools that were previously effectively cut off from health services.