New Anti-Malaria Soap as Mosquito Repellant Solution - Facts

Story:

Two African students Moctar Dembele and Gerard Niyondiko have created an Anti-Malaria Soap. Their product, Faso soap, is a low-cost, mosquito repellant solution.

Other Versions

Students invent award-winning soap to tackle malaria, awarded $25,000.

Picture: New Anti-Malaria Soap as Mosquito Repellant Solution — New Anti-Malaria Soap as Mosquito Repellant Solution

Analysis:

The messages claim that two African students Moctar Dembele and Gerard Niyondiko have developed a low cost Anti-Malaria Soap product called Faso as a mosquito repellant solution and are even awarded $25,000 for the same. Yes, it is a fact.

Picture: Moctar Dembele and Gerard Niyondiko winning $25,000 Grand Prize — Moctar Dembele and Gerard Niyondiko winning $25,000 Grand Prize

Faso Anti-Malaria Soap is an award-winning innovation by the two African students Moctar Dembele and Gerard Niyondiko, who designed the soap to help tackle malaria, which is caused by parasites that spread to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes. Both Moctar Dembele and Gerard Niyondiko are students at International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. Their creation, dubbed as “Fasoap,” fetched them the $25,000 Grand Prize in the Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) in April 2013.

Although the exact ingredients of the anti-malarial Fasoap are not disclosed, it is said to have been made from shea butter, essential lemongrass oil and others. After using the Fasoap, the makers say that it leaves a scent on the skin that repels mosquitoes and prevents malaria. They say that their soap will not only help people to be clean, but also shall protect them from malaria – without any additional cost to them. You can watch about this innovative Faso soap in the video.

Malaria is indeed a serious problem throughout the world, more so serious concern in Africa. The risks of contracting malaria are also associated with growing medical costs. James Logan, a medical entomologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, appreciates this idea of mosquito repellant solution in bath soap, but also cautions that there needs to be published scientific evidence to prove that the Faso soap is successful in reducing malaria transmission.

The team of Fasoap is presently working on the optimization of their soap through clinical trials, planning to release their product into the market by 2015. Let us wait and hope that it works for better and helps us combat mosquitoes and Malaria.