Mission

To develop a mini sterile insect technique (SIT) eradication process and help establish production manufacturing facilities (in interested countries) providing local jobs with the aim of carrying out eradication of the 2 genus of mosquito responsible for Malaria.

What is SIT

A process in which large numbers of insects are reared, sterilized and released into a wild population. Mating with the released sterile insects ensues no offspring development which after continuous application leads to population collapse and eventual extinction.

Research and development in preventative guerrilla medicine and solidarity networking.

Research into various techniques and organisations working on Malaria related cures. History of SIT and its successes. General plan of action and some research and brainstorming into application methods, equipment and alternate possibilities.

0 -1 year - Track down in person the proponents and scientists involved in some of the SIT success cases, interview malaria and mosquito experts, compile a resource library of all related topics (possible equipment included), write a feasibility study.

1 - 3 years - Development of a home grown sterile insect technique process and the tools needed with an appropriate technology mandate.

After 3 years - Once the process and prototype(s) are finalised, the project would take a turn to full implementation: publish and send out all findings (on a continuous basis) in the public domain, establish mini manufacturing plants for the tools needed and teach the locals how to succeed in eradicating malaria in their region(s) using the sterile insect technique process.

$12,000 for continued research (1^st year); document procuring, interviews, translation fees, etc. Note that all transportation, food and lodging will all come out of my personal wage and is not included in this estimated cost.

For prototype(s) development, costs cannot be guestimated reasonably at this time.

Grants, donations, government funding and eventually possible United Nations support.

Keeping information of this search to a minimum and making sure that development and trials are not jeopardised by industry interests is of paramount importance.

Finding the right people to get more information from concerning the details of what has already worked can prove difficult. This entails travel to places where SIT has been tried and piece together all the information possible before choosing the best process and tools for this project to succeed. I gave it a try in January of 2008 in El Salvador (for just one week) but there needs to be follow up communications. I believe it is still possible to attain such information even if the there is little co-operation. If information is not forthcoming experimentation can still proceed from similar programs using different insects but then the chance to learn from past successes and failures in actual technique implementation with our desired species of mosquito will be missing.

Streamlining the process and finding cheap ways of getting the job done is a challenge but I am confident this can be achieved in a relatively short amount of time once research has revealed modern SIT processes in detail.

Closing feasibility and impact statement

I have reason to believe that most work on Malaria eradication are fronts for capital gains. The technique and even trials have been successful years ago. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel. Here is a classic case of industry power and monopoly keeping people subjugated. By empowering the local populations with the right tools they can help combat this world wide epidemic.

Just to bring Malaria into perspective: It is the third most lethal infectious disease, just behind HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. 300 million to 900 million people are infected with malaria each year, including 10,000 to 30,000 travelers who visit malaria-infested areas and return home with the disease. About 2.7 million people die annually of malaria, the majority of these are children. The number of malaria victims is rising, according to some experts, as the result of the growing ineffectiveness of chloroquine (the drug currently used to combat malaria in infected persons). I presume the rise of global temperatures will not help the situation any either.

The bottom line is that SIT works and has been used on mosquitoes before, that means it can be reproduced and put into the hands of the people. This seems like a very grandiose project … but it is feasible.