Some years ago, I worked in The Gambia and when, one rainy season, the number of mosquitoes seemed to be greater than usual the cry went up that this could be blamed on road builders currently undertaking a major project in the area. The theory was that poor practices had left numerous unfilled trenches and small ponds in which stagnant water had accumulated, facilitating mosquito breeding.

I was therefore interested to read on the excellent Ghanaian news service Joy Online that a recent workshop on malaria prevention ‘…identified the activities of road contractors … as a major contributory to the increasing incidence of malaria in the country’. The workshop ‘Mobilising against Malaria’ was attended by community health volunteers and funded by Ghana Social Marketing Foundation (GSMF) in collaboration with Family Health International (FHI).

The theory that road building activities can increase the total number of mosquitoes (and the number of mosquito bites!) sounds reasonable to me but it is worth remembering that Anopheles mosquitoes which transmit malaria favour clean water for breeding. Stagnant water is favoured by nuisance biting Culicine mosquitoes, which are not malaria vectors.

Stagant water near dwelling places is not to be recommended, but the attribution to road builders of the blame for increased cases of malaria is likely to be misplaced.