Faso soap or Fasoap is the brand of a Burkina Faso-manufactured type of soap, in the development stage, which ostensibly repels mosquitoes and thus protects from mosquito-borne diseases.
The company has shifted its focus from the Faso soap to a mosquito-repellent ointment called Maïa.[1]
Origins
Faso soap was developed in 2013[2] by two Institut International d'Ingénierie de l'Eau et de l'Environnement (International Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering) students-turned-entrepreneurs, Moctar Dembélé, from Burkina Faso, and Gérard Niyondiko, from Burundi.[3]
Composition and development
According to its developers, Faso soap is made of shea butter, lemongrass, African marigold and other "natural ingredients" that can be found in Burkina Faso.[3] The soap's purpose is to leave an insect-repelling odor on the user's skin after washing.[4]
The intent is to repel mosquitoes and thus prevent mosquito bites that can transmit diseases such as malaria, chikungunya, yellow fever, or dengue.[4]
In April 2016, a crowd funding campaign was initiated[5] in order to finance large-scale testing of the product and an amount of over 70,000 Euros was reportedly collected.[6]
Other soaps
A similar mosquito-repellent soap is in development at Johns Hopkins. The program, headed by Dr. Soumyadipta Acharya, uses permethrin in its soap. Permethrin is a shorter-lived compound that can "comfortably reside on [the] skin."[4]
See also
- Tropical diseases
- Neglected tropical diseases
- Diseases of poverty
- Eradication of infectious diseases
- Control of Communicable Diseases Manual
- World Health Organization
External links
References
- Jackie Marchildon. Maïa: A Mosquito-Repellent Lotion to Protect People from Malaria Global Citizen, 23 April 2019, retrieved 11 December 2020^
- "Faute de financement, le premier savon anti-malaria s’en remet au crowdfunding" ("Without finances, anti-malaria soap turns to crowd funding") by Marion Garreau, Le Monde, 2 March 2016 (in French)^
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