The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) recommend starting breastfeeding within the first hour after birth, exclusively breastfeeding (EBF) for the first six months, and continuing for up to two years or beyond, in addition to adequate complementary foods. A structured and pretested questionnaire was used to collect data from 384 mothers attending antennal health care at Brikama District Hospital in Brikama, Gambia, from 1st June to 30th June.   The mean age (standard deviation (SD)) of the women was 26.69(±5.67) years and ranged from 16 to 49 years. Majority of the women were married (92.19 %) and from extended families (67.19 %).  The findings indicate that majority of participants knew about EBF (88.28%) from health workers (58.22%). Furthermore, most mothers preferred breastfeeding for up to two years of age (58.85%) and agreed that babies should be breastfed on demand (65.63%). The knowledge and attitude of mothers towards EBF was very high and positive. Overall, most respondents knew about (85.94%) and favored (69.79%) EBF.

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Degradation of homologous mRNA in some cells or organisms is possible through the introduction of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), via a process called RNA interference (RNAi). The dsRNAs are processed into short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) which consequently bind to the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), and causes degradation of target mRNAs. RNAi has been widely used to study gene modifications and functions hence has the possibility to control disease pathogens or vectors. This promising potential led researchers to discovery gene control mechanisms in tropical diseases, by manipulating genes of pathogens and vectors, protozoans, animal parasitic helminthes and disease-transmitting vectors, such as insects. Many pathogens and vectors cause severe parasitic diseases in tropical regions and it is challenging to control them once the host has been invaded intracellular. The aim of this work is to show how RNA interference can be used as treatment candidate for controlling some neglected tropical disease as it is highly effective in impeding parasitic development and their proliferation within their host.Keywords: Mosquitoes, Parasitic protozoa, Helminthes, Insect vector