Plans to Ensure Success of Project Wolbachia in More Housing Estates
Ministry of Sustainability and the EnvironmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the expansion of Project Wolbachia and strategies to maintain a sufficient male mosquito supply for effective dengue suppression. Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim inquired about production plans as coverage scales to 1,400 more HDB blocks, reaching 31% of all blocks. Minister Grace Fu Hai Yien stated that the Ministry is using the National Robotics Programme to automate rearing, targeting five million mosquitoes weekly by end 2022. This expansion will cover eight new sites and 300,000 households to study the technology's impact on dengue cases. Minister Grace Fu Hai Yien emphasized that while Wolbachia is promising, community-led source reduction remains the primary strategy for mosquito control.
Transcript
26 Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment in view of the implementation of Project Wolbachia in more housing estates what are the plans of the Ministry to ensure the sufficient supply of male Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes so that the relative success of the project in terms of dengue suppression rates currently seen in the pilot estates can be maintained.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: NEA is progressively expanding Project Wolbachia – Singapore to eight additional sites over the next few months to study the impact of Wolbachia technology on dengue cases. This will cover an additional 1,400 HDB blocks, bringing the total coverage of the project to 31% of all HDB blocks in Singapore and more than 300,000 households.
To support the expansion of Project Wolbachia – Singapore while sustaining releases of male Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes in existing release sites, NEA is working with companies and the multi-agency National Robotics Programme to develop novel automated systems for the large-scale rearing and field release of quality male Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes. This will increase the production of male mosquitoes, from the current two million to five million per week by end 2022.
While the results of Project Wolbachia – Singapore have been promising, Wolbachia technology is not a silver bullet. Source reduction remains a key strategy in our fight against dengue. Everyone needs to do their part to keep their homes and community free from mosquitoes and dengue.