Sri Lankan newpaper publishes world's first mosquito-repellent edition

Sri Lanka's Mawbima holds the distinction of printing "the world's first mosquito-repelling newspaper,With the help of advertising agency Leo Burnett, the publication carried out a multi-step campaign in an attempt to help combat dengue, a mosquito-borne disease. Mawbima began by placing large posters at bus shelters throughout the country. Each of these notices was coated with citronella, a natural insect repellent. Following that, Mawbima published a week-long series of educational articles detailing ways to combat the disease, before finally printing a special edition of the newspaper on World Health Day. The ink used was mixed with citronella in hopes of dissuading the deadly mosquitos from feeding on readers.

According to the World Health Organization, over 2.5 billion people are at risk of contracting dengue, which is also known as "breakbone fever" due to its virulent symptoms. The disease has recently become a problem even in the United States, where it was eradicated nearly 70 years ago.

A national newspaper in Sri Lanka has mixed its ink with citronella essences to protect its readers from deadly bites.

Image: Mawbima

The mosquito-borne dengue virus has reached epidemic proportions in Sri Lanka, and now a national newspaper Mawbima has come up with an ingenious way to do their bit to fight the disease. They have produced the world's first mosquito-repelling newspaper.
According to DesignBoom, during the country’s National Dengue Week, the newspaper produced large poster ads that were coated with citronella essences - a natural mosquito repellent - and hung them at bus stops throughout the country so people queueing wouldn’t get bitten. That week they also published a series of educational articles suggesting practical ways to combat the disease. On the last day of the week, Mawbima produced a mosquito-repellent edition, typed in ink mixed with citronella essence.
The publication produced extra copies of their mosquito-repellent edition, and it sold out with a sales increase of 30%, and the overall readership rising by 300,000.
The World Health Organisation reports that over 2.5 billion people are at risk of contracting the dengue virus, and it’s even become a problem even in the United States, despite being eradicated over half a century ago.