KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) – Minister of Health, Dr Christopher Tufton, says within a few months, the ministry is hoping to undertake a pilot project to sterilise mosquitoes, as part of methods to control vector-borne diseases.

This would involve the sterilisation of the male pupae of the mosquito using radiation and introducing them into the environment, where they would compete with the normal males. They would then mate with the females, but since the eggs are sterile, the population is severely depressed.Speaking at a post-Sectoral Debate presentation press briefing at Jamaica House yesterday, Dr Tufton said the initiative will be undertaken through the recently launched Mosquito Control and Research Unit, a collaboration between the ministry’s Vector Control Unit and the University of the West Indies (UWI), through their departments of Nuclear Sciences and Tropical Medicine.“The idea is to establish a management committee that draws on these departments or agencies, as well as others, to develop a work programme that is going to zero in on the mosquito as the primary vector that causes all these ailments and how we can control and possibly eliminate that threat our country faces,” he said.“One of the areas that we are going to be exploring is the whole area of sterilisation. But that is one area that we hope over the next couple of months to do a pilot on. We are very keen on trying to do more in terms of the mosquitoes, because it has been a big issue for us in terms of public health,” Dr Tufton added.Meanwhile, Director General of Nuclear Sciences at the UWI, Professor Charles Grant, said the sterilisation of mosquitoes would not replace the other interventions that are normally in place, such as keeping the environment clean, and fogging.Grant emphasised that the mosquitoes will not be genetically modified.“There is no fear that we are breeding monster mosquitoes 10 years from now. There is no fear of mutant mosquitoes being produced out of this project. It is not a silver bullet, but it is part of a multipronged approach to vector control,” he explained.