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I am writing up two charity ideas I’ve wanted to investigate, but haven’t been able to, in the hopes someone will investigate them further. If you end up investigating either, I'd be most interested to see what conclusions you come to!
Vulture preservation as a global health intervention
Since the mid 1990's the vulture population in India has been rapidly declining. The reason is due to a few chemicals which are fed to livestock, which is highly poisonous to vultures.
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Epistemic status: Wrote this pretty fast, probably ~70% confident some version of the thesis claim is true, would welcome being proven demonstrably wrong.
Context: I’m a grantmaker focused on alt-protein and am fairly well-connected/moderately in the loop of what animal welfare grantmakers are doing.
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Recent opportunities to take action
Executive Summary of my essay and study about the insecticide permethrin and its role in malaria nets:
Insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) are a form of personal protection that has been shown to reduce malaria cases and deaths in endemic regions. Permethrin is one of the most common insecticides impregnated in ITNs due to its historical low incidence of resistance by malaria vectors (malaria-infected mosquitoes). The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) classifies permethrin as a restricted-use pesticide for crop and wide-area applications due to high toxicity to fish and bee species. Excessive exposure to permethrin in humans, caused by accidents or spills, can cause neurobehavioral effects such as nausea, headache, muscle weakness – and in extreme cases, loss of consciousness, seizures, and altered motor activity. However, these side effects have not been seen in treated ITNs. In addition, the widespread use of permethrin in agriculture, indoor residential treatments, and ITNs has resulted in increasing vector resistance and ineffective bed nets. In response, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a policy recommendation to monitor and manage insecticide resistance in malaria vectors. One solution the WHO proposed is for the Olyset net, an LLIN (long lasting insecticide treated net) designed for mosquitoes that may survive contact with the net due to resistance to permethrin. The Olyset net additionally uses an additive such as pyriproxyfen (PPF) to sterilize vectors after contact with the mixture. The WHO's goal for reduction in global malaria cases has not met its target in recent years. Therefore, exploring alternatives in malaria control is critically important. At a cost of $0.17, only 10-20% of the price of a new bednet, effective permethrin-treated top sheets and blankets are a more accessible, inclusive, and affordable option.