In early 2018, we were pleased to announce that the Ministry of Health approved releases in Vinh Luong ward, Nha Trang city.

Under the new plan, our team will release Wolbachia mosquitoes in eight villages in Vinh Luong. Following consultation with local communities, we expect our releases will begin in March 2018 and last for a number of months.

Support from local communities is imperative to our approach at the World Mosquito Program. Our team is coordinating with local stakeholders to promote our safe and natural Wolbachia method in Vinh Luong, using various forms of communication, including mass media, delivering leaflets to households and holding community meetings.

Once this process is complete, our team will conduct surveys about the level of awareness and support for our Wolbachia method in Vinh Luong. In all of our international project sites, we encourage communities to become actively involved in our work, and only undertake release activities with community support.

“Mosquito-borne disease outbreaks place a lot of pressure on communities and local health systems in Vietnam,” says Nguyễn Bình Nguyên, our Project Field Coordinator in Vietnam. “We already have a lot of support for our innovative solution in Vietnam, and we’re really excited to be working with local health authorities and the community to bring our Wolbachia method to Vinh Luong.”

The World Mosquito Program is a global initiative, led from Monash University in Australia, which works to protect local communities from mosquito-borne diseases. Following many years of laboratory research and field trials with promising results, the World Mosquito Program has expanded to 11 countries worldwide and has widespread support from communities, governments and regulators.

Learn more about our Wolbachia method.