The cornerstone of our approach is community support and participation. In the Pacific, there is a lot of enthusiasm and interest from community members who are looking forward to our innovation being rolled out in their areas. Community members are participating in activities run by our community engagement staff, including hosting egg release containers and bug traps.

Our Pacific mascot is front and centre of our communication campaigns, helping World Mosquito Program staff and health workers communicate our innovation in an engaging way. In Vanuatu, a Wolbachia parade was held in March, in Kiribati, a Wolbachia community celebration was held in July, while Fiji are looking forward to their upcoming Wolbachia concert.

We have developed a public acceptance approach that has enabled us to gauge community support for our safe, natural and effective Wolbachia method in release areas in Fiji, Vanuatu and Kiribati. With public acceptance measured and attained in all three countries, World Mosquito Program teams in Vanuatu, Fiji and Kiribati have begun releases of mosquitoes with Wolbachia.

Jasa Veremalua, a member of the gold-medal-winning Fiji Sevens side has been adding some extra "muscle" to our work in Fiji as a World Mosquito Program Ambassador. Jasa is helping to raise awareness of our safe, natural and effective Wolbachia method because he’s passionate about innovative ways to reduce the risk of mosquito-borne diseases in his home country.

"I'm proud to be an ambassador for the World Mosquito Program because mosquito-borne diseases are a big issue in our country," Jasa says.

"I really encourage communities to support the World Mosquito Program and be a part of the solution in fighting these potentially deadly viruses."

Learn more about our work in the Pacific.