The agreement advances the partnership between Sri Lanka and the WMP in tackling the threat of mosquito borne-viruses such as dengue in Sri Lanka.
Monash University’s World Mosquito Program (WMP) is set to be rolled out in Sri Lanka following the signing of a Collaboration Agreement (CA) by Sri Lanka’s Secretary, Ministry of Health (MoH), Janaka Sugathadasa at a ceremony in Colombo with Australian High Commissioner Bryce Hutchesson.
The agreement advances the partnership between Sri Lanka and the WMP in tackling the threat of mosquito borne-viruses such as dengue in Sri Lanka.
With support from the Australian Government’s innovationXchange, WMP will use its ground-breaking research to trial the introduction of naturally occurring Wolbachia bacteria to Sri Lankan mosquito populations.
Wolbachia prevents dengue from being transmitted between people and also has the ability to block other mosquito-borne diseases such as Zika and chikungunya.
The program will be established across three sites in the Colombo area over the next 12 months, with the first mosquito releases to take place next year.
It is hoped that the program will expand its Wolbachia method to further sites in Sri Lanka in the future working in collaboration with local partners and subject to approval from the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health.