Impact of Malaria on the Infrastructure Industry
The infrastructure industry can encompass a wide range of companies and projects.
Infrastructure development activities have the potential to increase or decrease malaria transmission in various settings. Land may, for example, be drained to support construction work reducing the number/size of breeding sites and lowering malaria transmission potential. Certain vectors however favour temporary pools as breeding sites, and for these species the drainage of permanent water bodies could result in increased vector densities and an upsurge in malaria transmission. In other sites construction may see a proliferation of ‘borrow pits’, which can collect rain water and act as breeding sites for particular mosquito species, potentially increasing malaria transmission. Projects that inadvertently prevent drainage can result in long-term increases in the salinity of surface water, which can favour the breeding of certain malaria vectors and result in increased malaria transmission.
Certainly most companies active in this industry will want to put mitigating measures in place to avoid making the malaria situation worse.