Although a key event in the American professional pest control calendar, PestWorld is also the pre-eminent meeting place for the global pest control industry. Business, hunting out new products, networking and a fair amount of socialising is the order of the day.
Reminder of the global significance of pest control
Syngenta traditionally sponsors one of the opening general sessions – Thursday being their spot. Here the company’s Global Head Lawn & Garden Controls, Mike Parkin, took the opportunity to remind all those in the audience of the benefits, on a global scale, of the use of public health insecticides.
By showing a short three minute video, this brought home the rewards this industry can offer society. The video featured the company’s activities, in association with the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) and other agencies, in the fight against malaria. Nearly half of the world’s population is at risk of malaria, with sub-Saharan Africa carrying a disproportionately large share.
In 2008, Syngenta set out on the long journey to fight insecticide resistant mosquitoes. In 2003 a micro-encapsulated formulation of Actellic 300CS (pirimiphos methyl) was granted formal recommendation by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Today the product is used in more than 32 countries and has protected over 40 million people. Mike said: “I am especially proud of the positive impact we have on the lives of other people.”
This value to society offered by the pest control industry was also mirrored in the announcement by NPMA of their fourth and latest QualityPro accreditation – QualityPro Public Health. This national mark of excellence is designed for accredited companies to be able to distinguish their services that protect against rodents and mosquitoes.
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Global award
Amongst the various awards presented by NPMA, five years ago the Global Ambassador award was created to recognise an NPMA member who had distinguished themselves through organising and implementing a wide range of activities, to the benefit of the global pest management industry.
This year the proud recipient was Xiaoyun Huang, the president of the Federation of Asian & Oceanic Pest Managers’ Association (FAOPMA) and the CEO of the Chinese Pest Control Association.
Xiaoyun trained as a medical doctor and served as a director of public health in the Ministry of Transportation from 1983 TO 1993. She is also the original proponent of World Pest Day, which has been adopted by the industry worldwide.
International reception
After a busy day visiting the exhibition, or attending the technical sessions, delegates are always pleased to gather at the international reception – this time around held outdoors on the terrace as the sun went down. Sponsored by Orkin, this is an ideal time to catch up with international friends and colleagues.
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 Guests enjoying the Orkin sponsored reception |
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 One of the the benefits of the hot Florida weather – outdoors for the reception |
Tom Luczynski greets the international visitors
Pest editor, Frances McKim (center) with Christine Dahlman Jacobsen (left) and Dawn BoltonCoalition meeting
The very final item on the PestWold 2018 agenda was a meeting of the Global Pest Management Coalition. Chaired by Dominique Stumpf, CEO at NPMA. Around 40 delegates gathered to discuss structure and funding, an update on the data collection exercise and feedback from delegates from around the globe on the success of World Pest Day 2018.
Representatives representing the global pest control associations gather for the coalition meeting