Acumen Fund has learned over the years that its most successful entrepreneurs listen constantly to the needs and the nuanced preferences of their customers. A killer new product will certainly fail if it is not designed around the customers’ behaviors and desires. We’ve seen it happen.
As part of Acumen Fund’s monthly breakfast series, we were joined last Friday by Richard Allan, Director of the MENTOR (Malaria Emergency Technical and Operational Response) Initiative, who spoke about a thoughtful new technology for preventing malaria: insecticide-treated wall lining (shown at left, with a customer in the foreground). Imagine a flexible wall-lining that you can unroll in long sheets and attach to the inside walls of a home. Only it is impregnated with an insecticide that kills mosquitoes (and many other pests) on contact. A new company called DART (Durable Activated Residual Textiles), a joint venture between Richard, Acumen Fund, and Vestergaard Frandsen, will produce the product for distribution throughout malaria endemic regions Asia and Africa.
We’ve seen a lot of sexy, new product designs, and we’ve decided not to invest in most of them. So why are we so excited about this new wall lining (think wallpaper)?
For starters, it combines the best features of the two most popular malaria prevention products: the long-lasting insecticide-treated bednet and indoor residual spraying (IRS - this is where the interior walls of a home are sprayed periodically with insecticide). The best nets last about 5 years without needing re-treatment, but they require you to sleep underneath a net every night, which is a significant behavior change and a challenge for any distribution scheme. Indoor spraying requires no behavior change once the walls are sprayed. Unlike with nets, a family does not have to decide to sleep under protection; the spray ensures that they are naturally protected anytime they’re inside the home. Misuse is not really possible. However, the spray’s effectiveness only lasts about 6 months and there are complicated logistics and persuasion required to do the spraying in the first place.
Introducing wall lining. Wall lining will remain effective at least as long as bednets and likely longer, since it will likely see less wear and tear. And, like spraying, it does not require any behavior change once the walls are lined – if you’re in the home, you are protected. In this sense it is the best of both worlds – years of protection without the struggle to change people’s behavior.
Yet, beyond these technological advantages, the product seems to appeal to the customer better (at least as evidenced in early trials). Printed in many different colors and patterns, the wall lining is designed to appeal to the desire for beauty and home improvement that exists in all of us. Who wouldn’t want beautiful blue walls instead of the drab brown of sticks or mud? In fact, this is how Richard got the idea in the first place. In Cambodia, he noticed homes lined with wallpaper for purely aesthetic reasons. Why not combine the customer’s desire for beauty and home improvement with addressing a critical health issue?
Of course, there are many challenges ahead, but in a market dominated by multilateral & NGO distribution schemes, it is rare to see a product so thoughtfully designed with the customer in mind. With ~2 million deaths per year due to malaria and 1/4 of the world population living in malaria endemic regions, we owe it to the customers to design products that work for them but at the same time are as effective as possible.
Tags: Durable Activated Residual Textiles, health, malaria, technology
Interesting post, Marc.
Reply to Theresa NewhardSince the wallpaper does not provide a physical barrier, I am wondering if it has a higher chemical concentration. If so, the room would presumably contain constantly toxic air that would discourage the mosquito. Does this have any effect on people - this level of toxicity? Especially with young children or pregnant women?
Reply to Seth CochranHi Seth, Good question… the short answer is - No the room won’t contain toxic air unsafe for young children and pregnant women.
The long answer:
One of the primary methods of fighting malaria is to decrease the number of malaria carrying mosquitoes in a region and thus prevent them from transmitting the disease, known as vector control in public health parlance. Vector control techniques take advantage of specific characteristics or survival requirements of the mosquito. IRS(and hence the wall linings) are effective because female mosquitoes tend to rest on the walls either before or after feeding(to digest the blood-meal). The insecticide doesn’t disperse into the air within the room and kills by contact. An insecticide treated bednet on the other hand is like a baited trap with the odour of the person sleeping inside drawing the mosquito to the net. There are other ways of controlling malaria carrying mosquitoes like targeting mosquito larvae and the eliminating breeding sites of mosquitoes.
Hope this gives context, you can read more about vector control at http://www.who.int/malaria/vectorcontrol.html
Reply to Ajay NairSometimes you can fight mosquitos with natural repellents or electronic devices but this is sometimes very expensive because you need a power supply. So the best choice will be natural mosquite repellents which are chemical free.
Reply to Natural mosquito repellent