Ahead of World Mosquito Day, commemorated annually on 20 August, the University of Pretoria Institute for Sustainable Malaria Control (UP ISMC) hosted an innovative safari cocktail experience, aimed at illustrating how something as simple as a cocktail dinner can be used to promote health and enhance awareness about mosquitoes. The meal was created by UP students and staff using ingredients with active compounds that in large quantities may have the potential to repel mosquitoes.
The UP ISMC is a transdisciplinary research entity housed in UP’s Faculty of Health Sciences. The health-awareness cocktail dinner formed part of the third module of its Leadership and Management Training for Impact in Malaria Eradication course, which took place at UP’s Future Africa Campus from 7 to 12 August 2023.
A total of 48 (25 female) course participants from eight SADC countries – Angola, Botswana, Eswatini,
Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe – took part in the module, with sessions
focusing on the science of malaria and malaria elimination. A session on new ways of promoting health
and malaria awareness concluded with the novel cocktail dinner.
“Mosquitoes continue to have a devastating impact on global health,” said Dr Taneshka Kruger, Project
Manager of the UP ISMC. “On World Mosquito Day we commemorate Sir Ronald Ross, who in 1897
discovered that female mosquitoes from the Anopheles genus actively transmit malaria. The best way to
prevent malaria transmission is to ensure that people avoid being bitten by malaria-carrying mosquitoes,
and this can be communicated through health promotion and malaria awareness creation.”
The powerful universal language of food
The innovative culinary experience was hosted in collaboration with UP’s Department of Consumer and
Food Sciences in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. Two fourth-year BConSci (Food Retail
Management) students, Azille Neuhoff and Anezka van Schalkwyk, researched and conceptualised the
menu together with culinary arts lecturer Dr Hennie Fisher. “This exciting opportunity allowed me to
discover more about the food that we consume, and how food can be used to raise awareness about a
disease as deadly as malaria,” Neuhoff said.
“What a privilege to bring two different fields of interest together through the use of food”, van
Schalkwyk added. The project formed part of the students’ experiential training in industry module. A mix of first- to fourth-year students helped prepare a feast for the senses that could also help repel
mosquitoes.
The menu from canapés to dessert
As part of the immersive experience, guests were escorted through three food “stations”, where Dr
Kruger provided interesting titbits about mosquitoes and the potential repellence of the foodstuff used in
the menu.
Arrivals canapé:
- Parma ham with fresh grapefruit compote on crostini (beetroot vegetarian version)
- Smoked trout and carrot sushi
- Virgin Bloody Mary