Namibia is a small African country with a population of just over two million, however, in 2004 over 600,000 new cases of malaria were recorded in Namibia. The country’s Ministry of Health identified 1.2 million people at risk of contracting the disease. As a mosquito-borne parasite, the best defense against infection is the diligent use of mosquito netting, but the Ministry only had 80,000 nets to distribute. Working with academics, researchers, and industry, the Ministry was able to very precisely give the nets to the families with the greatest risk and by 2016, the number of new cases of Malaria had been reduced 98% to only 14,400¹.
