Measuring public attitudes to releases of transgenic mosquitoes for disease control

Introduction Excerpt

Since their commercial application a few decades ago, GMOs have been highly controversial with vocal opponents in both developed and developing nations. This was particularly apparent in 2002 when Zambia rejected food aid from the USA during a famine on the basis that it was GM. More recently, regarding GMMs, vocal opposition in Malaysia has led to releases of GM Aedes aegypti – the mosquito species that transmits dengue fever – being delayed, and the announcement in the Cayman Islands of an open field trial of GMMs was met with controversy.

However, vocal opposition is not always representative. The potential use of GMMs to control dengue fever in Key West, Florida, USA, illustrates this point. In 2011, a town hall meeting on the subject was met with resistance and an online campaign to prevent the intervention. However, two recent surveys of residents in the region found that the majority of respondents actually support the intervention and consider it safer than the use of chemical insecticides. In a democratic society, it is essential that we obtain a representative sample of attitudes in order to inform scientific and policy-related decisions. In addition to informing political decisions, surveys of public attitudes lead to information exchange with community members and contribute to how disease control programmes are implemented.

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