Bednets stop malaria. Bad design stops bednets!

The mosquito bednet that protects millions of people today is based on a design created more than 80 years ago. The basic shape, setup, and user experience are almost unchanged.

How Current Nets Are Installed

In most homes, a bednet is hung from one or more ceiling nails, hooks, or string loops. The user ties strings to the roof beams, then spreads the net over the bed or sleeping mat.
The net must be tucked under the mattress or sleeping pad every night to seal the edges. If the net lifts even slightly, mosquitoes can enter from below or through gaps on the sides.
If there is no ceiling or the roof is too high, users must improvise with extra sticks, taped strings, or furniture. This makes setup slow, frustrating, and often impossible in crowded rooms.

Why This Setup Is a Problem

The design assumes every room has a strong ceiling point, a flat bed, and enough space to hang a rectangular box of fabric. But many people sleep on the floor, in shared rooms, or outdoors.
If the net touches skin, mosquitoes can bite through the mesh. If the net tears, there is no easy repair method. If the nails are too far apart, the net sags and becomes useless.

A Design Frozen in the Past

The original design worked when bed nets were used in upscale houses with high ceilings, wooden rafters, etc.  That world is gone, but the net has not changed. Bed nets are recommended for everyone, including people with smaller homes or huts with limited living space. 

What a Modern Bednet Should Do

A 21st-century net should stand by itself without strings or ceiling hooks, keep fabric off the skin, seal automatically, and take less than a minute to install.

Materials should be what they are now -- insecticide-treated mesh fabric, which is very advanced technically and is improving frequently. 

The net should work on a mattress, floor mat, bunk bed, outdoor cot, or emergency shelter—with no nails, no strings, no guesswork.

In Summary

Bednets can save millions of lives, but only if people use them.  An 80-year-old design cannot meet today’s needs. If we can redesign pens, paper, phones, cars, irons, lightbulbs, watches, dentistry - almost everything - we can redesign the world’s #1, most important tool in the war against mosquitoes..