Interconnectedness: Changing environment - Malaria - IT

MIT Computer Program Analyzes Environmental Changes, Could
Aid Malaria Prevention Efforts, Researchers Say

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A computer program developed at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology could help in malaria prevention efforts by
identifying which environmental changes would be most effective
in controlling the spread of mosquito-borne diseases, VOA News
reports. The program -- based on four years of research in a
mosquito-endemic area of Niger -- compares conventional
strategies of fighting malaria, such as insecticide-treated
nets, to physical changes in the environment, such as leveling
land to eliminate soil depressions, which can accumulate water
and create mosquito breeding grounds. Elfatih Eltahir, an MIT
civil engineer who developed the program with colleagues, said
the program creates environmental models for communities dealing
with large populations of mosquitoes. According to Eltahir, the
computer program is "like many applications of computer models
we use to screen and compare different alternatives." He added
that he thinks researchers 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 kind of
efforts."Environmental changes can be an important factor in the
fight against malaria, Eltahir said, adding that "[s]ome of the
exercises regarding elimination of malaria in some parts of
North America and Europe and South America in the past have
relied maybe exclusively on these kind of approaches. So they
definitely have a significant level of efficiency" (Berman, VOA
News, 12/24/08).