Public sentiments towards the use of Wolbachia-Aedes technology in Singapore

Christina Liew,Irene Chen,Lee Ching Ng,Li Ting Soh

doi:10.1186/s12889-021-11380-w

Abstract

BackgroundWolbachia technology is a novel vector control approach that can reduce mosquito populations and the risk of mosquito-borne diseases, which has recently gained popularity amongst countries. In 2016, Singapore embarked on a multi-phased field study named Project Wolbachia – Singapore, to evaluate the use of Wolbachia technology as an Aedes aegypti mosquito population suppression tool to fight dengue. Due to the novelty of this technology in Singapore, this study aims to understand the public’s acceptance and sentiments towards the use of Wolbachia technology.MethodsSeveral public sentiment survey approaches – including online, face-to-face in the streets, as well as door-to-door household surveys – were conducted.ResultsThe surveys conducted prior to the first field releases and implementation of the project revealed high support for the use of Wolbachia technology in Singapore. A household perception survey conducted in the interim of the first project phase was encouraging, with the majority of the respondents being aware of the project and having no concerns with the release of male Wolbachia-carrying Aedes aegypti (Wolbachia-Aedes) mosquitoes in their neighbourhood.ConclusionsThe study reveal high support for the use of Wolbachia technology in Singapore and also provided invaluable insights that were used in the development of a public communications and engagement framework model, which thus helped to guide these elements in the subsequent phases and expansion of the project.

Highlights

Wolbachia technology is a novel vector control approach that can reduce mosquito populations and the risk of mosquito-borne diseases, which has recently gained popularity amongst countries
The questions on: i) how comfortable participants are with the use of Wolbachia technology at a dengue hotspot near their homes; ii) how confident they are with Wolbachia technology; and iii) if they think the Government should use Wolbachia technology, were found to be highly correlated (Chronbach’s alpha ≈0.76)
The various surveys conducted provided a good understanding of the public acceptance and sentiments towards the use of Wolbachia-Aedes technology in Singapore

Summary

Introduction

Wolbachia technology is a novel vector control approach that can reduce mosquito populations and the risk of mosquito-borne diseases, which has recently gained popularity amongst countries. The use of Wolbachia strategy to suppress vector populations is a novel approach, which has the potential to reduce mosquito populations and the risk of mosquitoborne disease transmission [1, 2]. This approach, commonly known as the Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT), is a species-specific and benign approach for controlling vector populations [3]. Improved technology in recent years made the microinjection of Wolbachia strains into mosquito species possible [6], allowing exploitation of the Wolbachia strategy for suppressing populations of mosquito species [7,8,9].

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