Key Action 7: In Some Areas, Be Receptive to Initiatives to Spray Inside Homes*
To kill mosquitoes in the home, trained professionals can spray the inside walls of a house with a long-lasting insecticide known as indoor residual spraying (or IRS for short). Governments have indoor residual spraying programs in some locations. Residents should participate in the program, if available. The local malaria authority will give you more details about if and where this program is available.
Encourage your community to be receptive to local initiatives to spray homes if your local malaria authority indicates that spraying initiatives occur in your area. Alert families of planned visits by sprayers and how they can properly prepare for the spraying inside their home. Families should allow sprayers into the home and follow their directions for removing household goods from the house during the spraying process.
- Prepare your home for spraying by removing household goods and following spray operator instructions.
- Even after a house is sprayed, household members still need to continue sleeping under an insecticide-treated net.
- Indoor residual spraying is important in preventing and controlling malaria in the community.
- Indoor residual spraying kills the mosquitoes that carry malaria.
- Indoor residual spraying is safe and effective (WHO Guidance on Malaria Vector Control ).
- If indoor residual spraying is available in your community, then it is free to households.
*Indoor residual spraying is recommended for households in certain malaria transmission areas. Consult with the local malaria authority on whether indoor spraying is appropriate for your area.
