A study of the impact of long lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets in Papua New Guinea shows they have had a dramatic impact on the incidence of malaria.
The head of the Health and Demography Unit at the Institute of Medical Research, Dr Manuel Hetzel, says they have conducted research across the country to see whether the level of malarial infection changes over time.
He says the researchers have found that the nets had had a significant effect.
"What we found is that over the last two years the proportion of people infected with parasites has dropped dramatically. This is to our understanding mainly a result of the introduction of the mosquito nets because it was the only real malaria intervention rolled out across the country."
Dr Hetzel says new sources of funding for additional nets from 2014 is critical with the Global Fund unable to continue to support its scheme beyond that year.
