How mosquito nets can serve as one of the main public health tools against malaria If nets only seemed to serve Westerners for sleeping, Indians adapted them in different ways. Synopsis Nets drenched in insecticides are one of the main public health tools against malaria and their use in Covid wards shows their continued relevance. Vikram Doctor reports Makeshift hospitals have become common as Covid’s second wave rages. And a picture of one of them showed something oddly familiar amid the chaos of PPE suited carers and oxygen cylinders – a row of tents made from mosquito nets to give patients a brief sense of privacy.