Bethesda, MD — Abt Associates has been awarded the Indoor Residual Spraying 2 (IRS 2) Project in Kenya, a three-year malaria prevention project worth just under $25 million that is funded by the United States Agency for International Development-led President's Malaria Initiative (PMI). Malaria is the leading cause of death in Kenya and IRS is the application of a long-acting insecticide on the walls, ceiling and all indoor resting places of mosquitos that transmit malaria.

The project will be based in Kisumu, Kenya, in the western part of the country, where 3.9 million people are at risk of malaria and where malaria parasite prevalence is extremely high. The project will help Kenya's Division of Malaria Control achieve its goal of reducing the burden of malaria in western Kenya by increasing local capacity to plan, implement, and monitor IRS activities in an environmentally sound manner.

"We are thrilled to be able to apply our IRS expertise toward helping Kenyans avoid malaria," said Dr. Diana Silimperi, Vice President of International Health at Abt Associates. "We are now working in 17 countries implementing malaria prevention programs and discovering new, creative ways to improve IRS."