Washington, DC — American researchers have developed a computer programme to help in the battle against malaria by identifying the most effective environmental changes that would control its spread through mosquitoes.

The software, devised at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is based on four years of observation in a mosquito-endemic area of Niger Republic.

It compared conventional strategies, such as insecticide-treated bed nets, to physical changes, such as levelling land to eliminate depressions in soil where water can accumulate.

Standing water is a favourite breeding spot for mosquitoes.

MIT civil engineer, Elfatih Eltahir, noted that environmental changes can be a significant factor in the fight against malaria.

"Some of the experiences regarding elimination of malaria in some parts of North America and Europe and South America in the past relied maybe exclusively on these kinds of approaches.

"So they definitely have a significant level of efficiency," he explained.

Each year, malaria kills nearly a million people, most of them children.

But Eltahir said the computer programme creates environmental models for communities fighting to gain the upper hand against mosquitoes.

"It is like many applications of computer models we use to screen and compare different alternatives. I think we could bring that technology to look at the malaria problem in Africa too, as an additional tool to plan environmental management to help in those kinds of efforts."