SC Johnson Launches High-Speed Manufacturing of Malaria-Prevention Tool, Helps Meet Critical Health Need and Creates Local Jobs
NAIROBI, Kenya, February 4, 2025 – SC Johnson, makers of household brands such as OFF!®, Fuyí® and Raid®, announced the opening of high-speed manufacturing lines at its Nairobi, Kenya plant to produce SC Johnson Guardian™, one of the company’s spatial repellents designed to significantly reduce the presence of mosquitos. As peak malaria season looms in Africa, this innovative tool is an easy-to-use product that can be hung in semi-enclosed spaces, including homes and schools, and has proven to be effective against multiple mosquito-borne diseases, including malaria, dengue and leishmaniasis.
“11 years ago, a team of people at SC Johnson had a vision to create an exceptionally low cost, long lasting effective spatial repellent that could significantly reduce the transmission of malaria,” said Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO of SC Johnson. “We are months away from receiving a policy recommendation from the World Health Organization where we can get this new tool in the hands of millions of people. We recently reached a key milestone and opened high-speed manufacturing of this new tool at our site in Kenya, and this is only the beginning.”
At full capacity, SC Johnson expects to be able to produce up to 20 million units of Guardian annually at its Kenya plant and distribute the spatial repellents at no cost to people who need it most via public health channels. Opening the two manufacturing lines will also generate local economic impact, creating approximately 150 jobs.
According to the latest World Malaria Report by the World Health Organization (WHO), Africa accounts for 94 percent of malaria cases and 95 percent of malaria deaths. SC Johnson is currently waiting on WHO approval for its spatial repellents and is already looking to expand its Kenya manufacturing and distribution. Currently, clinical trials have shown that proper use of spatial repellents can reduce risk of disease by 33 percent, with Guardian able to provide protection for up to 12 months. Initial trials in Indonesia, Peru and Kenya have shown promising results, and ongoing research continues to demonstrate the efficacy of spatial repellents.
“Being in a region so
vulnerable to mosquito and other insect transmitted disease, manufacturing
spatial repellents here in Kenya is a game changer,” said Dr. Eric Ochomo,
Deputy Director, Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Disease, Kenya Medical
Research Institute, Busia. “Our partnership with SC Johnson allows us to
leverage our individual expertise so that these tools can be developed and
distributed quickly and at no cost to areas that already have a high disease
burden and those predicted to get outbreaks of disease, thereby averting
additional cases and deaths. We are grateful to work together to hopefully end
this fight against malaria and other disease.”
Over the last ten
years, SC Johnson has committed over $100 million to the development, testing,
production and deployment of spatial repellents as a new public health
intervention to prevent insect-borne disease, with $22 million invested in total
for its Nairobi plant.
This is a philanthropic effort about bringing company resources, capability, and expertise to bear in the fight against mosquito-borne disease.
Learn more about what SC Johnson is doing in the fight against malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases here.
