The National Pest Management Association Completes Its Mission to Haiti

The fourth and final humanitarian delegation of the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) completed its mission to Haiti last week. Over the past year, NPMA provided much-needed assistance to several facilities in Port-au-Prince through its collaboration with the Haitian Minister of Environment, a Haitian pest management company and hospital and orphanage administrators. In the aftermath of the January 2010 earthquake, pest infestations had become a serious threat to human health, especially in places such as hospitals and orphanages.

NPMA used its resources to minimize entry points for pests, purchase products designed to prevent pest infestations in buildings, and to train Haitian pest control workers so they can properly perform pest control operations as the country continues its recovery.

"The National Pest Management Association and our delegates are humbled and honored to have been able to contribute our resources and expertise to a country in need," said Rob Lederer, executive vice president for NPMA. "While the services our delegates provided may seem basic to most Americans, in Haiti they can mean the difference between sickness and health - and even life and death."

"NPMA is extremely grateful to the delegates and industry members who contributed to this mission over the past year. These men and women left the comforts of home and risked their health and safety in order to help others in need. We commend them for their big hearts and selfless work," added Lederer.

NPMA delegates and their Haitian pest control counterparts worked to install more than 500 screens to protect hospital patients from disease-carrying flies and mosquitoes in areas such as delivery rooms, neonatal care areas, as well as emergency and operating rooms. Flies are vectors of more than 100 different kinds of disease-causing germs and mosquitoes are responsible for spreading diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and West Nile virus.

Teams also installed 500 rat bait stations and more than 200 fly bait stations at three hospitals and one orphanage in the capital city. St. Damien's Hospital administrators reported that the recent addition of rat control services has greatly reduced rat populations with approximately 100 rats being removed from the grounds each day. The results of which are significant, as rodents are known to spread filth, contaminate food and transmit disease.

The NPMA, a non-profit organization with more than 7,000 members, was established in 1933 to support the pest management industry's commitment to the protection of public health, food and property.

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