India was facing the biggest outbreak in mosquito related diseases - Dengue and Malaria. This was peculiar because mosquito-related cases only see a rise in the rainy season. This was also worrisome because the medical system was already overburdened amidst the pandemic.

While Indians were using mosquito repellent products to fight mosquitoes inside the home, disease control authorities pointed at new breeding grounds popping outside homes at garbage collection points.

Even 1 cm of water collected allowed mosquito eggs to hatch to larvae. These garbage dumps provided optimal conditions for laying eggs, creating a vicious cycle.

Maxx Flash, a mosquito repellent brand has products to help get rid of mosquitoes inside the home. But for the first time it wanted to step outside the home and help consumers fight the menace at the source.

Idea: To fight the Dengue and Malaria outbreak, Maxx Flash introduced The Killer Pack. This 100% bio-degradable packaging lined and printed with 5% Active Probiotic Bacillus thuringiensis kills mosquito larvae when disposed in garbage dumps, dustbins, garden ponds, stagnant water, stormwater drains.

This innovative packaging kills larvae outside the house while the non-toxic coil fights mosquitoes inside, breaking the vicious cycle.

The packaging is printed with non-toxic colours that are natural, food grade and ROHS compliant. They are free from heavy metal specifications of EN–71 (heavy metal, like lead, zinc, tin, arsenic, cobalt etc.)

The strain of bacteria used is also safe. The use of 5% Active Bacillus thuringiensis is approved and recommended by WHO, EPA and ICMR for mosquito larvae control. We wanted to make sure it does not harm birds, rats or any other species that may feed on wet garbage or food waste from garbage bins.

Execution: The Killer Pack was launched in hot pockets of India where the number of mosquito related disease cases were on the rise. The packs were distributed via the local Public Health Centres based on the monthly date provided by the NCVBDC.

Initial testing was done in Dwarka District under the guidance of National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control (NCVBDC). Testing was done with 30,000 products with production cost of 0.98 USD per pack, before commercial release.

The packs were sold in-store with the existing chain of brand distributors and e-com sites like Amazon and Indiamart for retail and bulk respectively.

Outcome: While the larger impact is being closely observed by government bodies, preliminarily results show that localities using The Killer Pack saw reduction in disease causing larvae. Communities in towns of Salaya, Mevasa, and Bhunga Okha saw 82%, 59%, 76% reduction of Anopheles larvae which causes Malaria.

Additionally, Jamdeveliya, Bhanvad and Movan reported 68%, 42%, 38% decrease in Dengue causing Aedes larvae. This has helped increase the brand loyalty in these locations.