WHO Bednets: A Design Stuck in Time

 The mosquito bednet used to protect millions of people is based on a design created more than 80 years ago:

How WHO Nets Are Installed

All bednet designs must be approved by the World Health Organization.  WHO bednets are a rectangular box of fabric, hung from walls with nails, hooks and string loops. The user ties strings to the walls, then spreads the net over the bed or sleeping mat, then adjusts the tension in the strings.
If the setup is not right, users improvise with extra sticks, taped strings or furniture. If they want to move it -- even just a short distance or to another room -- they must start over completely.  This makes setup slow, frustrating, and often impossible in crowded spaces. 
The net must be tucked under the mattress or sleeping pad every night to seal the edges. If the net lifts even slightly, mosquitoes can enter from below or through gaps on the sides. 

Why This Setup Is a Problem

The WHO design assumes every room has four strong walls, a flat bed and enough space to hang a large box of fabric. If the nails are too close or too far apart, the net sags or will not hang at all.
Many people sleep outdoors, without walls to hang the net. When used on the floor, the net falls onto the user's skin and mosquitoes can bite through it.  In shared rooms, repositioning the net means retying, rehanging and resetting everything.  If the net tears, there is no easy repair method. 

These issues make consistent use nearly impossible, causing many to stop using the WHO nets -- and leaving them unprotected from mosquitoes.

What a Redesigned Bednet Should Do

A 21st-century net should stand by itself without strings or wall hooks, keep fabric off the skin, seal automatically, and take less than a minute to install.

Materials should be what they are now: insecticide-treated mesh fabric - which is very advanced technically and is improving frequently - and approved by the WHO.

The net should work on a mattress, floor mat, bunk bed, cot or emergency shelter—indoors and outdoors—with no nails, no strings, no guesswork.

In Summary

Bednets can save millions of lives -- but only if people use them.  After 80 years, the WHO bednet that millions rely on for protection needs a major redesign. If we can upgrade pens, phones, cars, lightbulbs and watches - almost everything - we can certainly upgrade the world's most important weapon against mosquitoes.