Giving Compass' Take:

• Devex reports on some good news in the fight against malaria-carrying mosquitos in Ghana: WHO has greenlit a new type of insecticide that is cost-effective and can kill bugs resistant to older formulas.

• This new innovation and the pilot program behind it is a good example for aid organizations looking to innovate in the global health field. How can we create more initiatives with such impact potential?

• Of course, the fight against malaria is far from over. Here's what we can do to wipe out the disease for good.

Eating overripe mangoes, excessive heat, and arduous labor used to be some of the myths concerning the causes of malaria in Ghana’s Ashanti region. “I used to believe I fell ill because I worked for too many hours under the sun,” said Dina Serwa, a mother of five from the gold mining district of Obuasi.

That was before the rollout of indoor residual spraying, or IRS, in 2006, which is based on the seasonal application of long-lasting insecticides to the walls of homes to kill malaria-carrying mosquitos.

“By 2012, malaria cases in the Obuasi district had fallen by 75 percent,” and awareness on disease prevention had significantly increased, said Samuel Asiedu, director of AngloGold Ashanti’s malaria program, AGAMal. This initiative of the world’s third-largest gold producer is supported by The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Asiedu also leads IRS implementation across the Ashanti, Upper West, and Upper East regions, in a public-private partnership with Ghana’s National Malaria Control Programme.

IRS, alongside insecticide-treated nets, is one of the prime tools in the global fight against malaria. However, IRS coverage has fallen by around 40 percent over the last few years due to the resistance of anopheles mosquitoes to older products and the steep cost of new formulations.

But late last year came a breakthrough, when the World Health Organization made its first recommendation for an innovative insecticide in 40 years. It prequalified Sumishield 50WG, deeming it "acceptable for procurement by the U.N. and other international agencies and countries.”

Read the full article about fighting mosquitos in Ghana by Gloria Pallares at Devex International Development.