hone.pd supports the World Mosquito Program (WMP)

Hone Product Design are pleased to be supporting the World Mosquito Program (WMP) as a design and supply partner providing machines and equipment to aid in their work fighting mosquito-borne diseases. 

The World Mosquito Program works around the world to reduce the threat of mosquito-borne diseases, protecting more than 10 million* people. WMP uses a safe and natural bacteria called Wolbachia to reduce the ability of mosquitoes to transmit dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever.

This self-sustaining and cost-effective method has been deployed in 11 countries over the past decade, and its effectiveness for dengue control has been demonstrated in multiple field trials. WMP’s efforts are seeing fantastic success. In areas where Wolbachia has been established in local mosquito populations, dengue incidence has been significantly reduced. The cities of Bello, Medellin and Itagui in Colombia for example have seen a decline in dengue incidence of 89-97%, their lowest  levels so far in 20 years. Similar great outcomes have also been recorded in Far North QLD, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Brazil. 

WMP is a not-for-profit group of companies owned by Monash University. The value of WMP’s work has been recognised and supported by Governments, NGOs, Research Institutes and Philanthropic Partners from around the world, which has included funding from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Australian Government, Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, and many more. With their continuous efforts, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Vector Control Advisory Group (VCAG) has concluded that WMP’s Wolbachia method ‘demonstrates public health value against Dengue’; an acknowledgement that is a stepping stone toward WHO guideline development.

WMP continues to expand its operations by building partnerships with local communities in Asia, Latin America and Oceania. Scale-up plans for national deployments in existing countries are in preparation for potential expansion to new countries. 

hone.pd have been engaged by WMP as a part of this scaling up. The hone.pd team are working with WMP internal Engineers and scientists on the Design and Supply of machine and equipment items required for the scale up and roll out of their operations. 

This work includes refining product designs for improved functionality; as well as Product Engineering to improve cost manufacturing efficiency outcomes at increased volume. Via partner SupplyWise, hone.pd are also setting up cost effective manufacturing both onshore and offshore, and managing the logistics of the designed items for safe arrival at the WMP offshore destinations.