The first reports about the termination of a pilot test, in a southwest locality in Havana, that was based on the use of the sterile insect technique show the effectiveness of this procedure, as there was a reduction of 90% of the population of Aedes aegypti and achieved the almost total elimination of the cases of diseases transmitted by the insect in the region during the last two months of the trial.  
According to the information published on the web of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the experimental study mentioned, was done between April and August  2020, in the town El Cano and is the beginning of a  more effective  and  friendly to  the environment program in the Island.   
Rui Cardoso Pereira, head of the Insect Pest Control Section of the Joint Center FAO/OIEA said that a number of 1.3 million male sterile mosquitos were released in 21 weeks and the objective for a near future is to do it in a bigger area.
The technique of the sterile insect involves the release of the male sterile mosquito which copulates with wild females; they reduce the reproduction capacity and the birthrate of the population.   
This technique has been successfully used for more than 50 years in the world to manage the different insect plagues of interest for agriculture
In the case of Cuba the mosquitoes used in the research were colonized at the Institute of Tropical Medicine  Pedro Kourí (IPK), from eggs collected in the areas that were treated.  
The they were reproduced in a massive way in a small bioplant by OIEA,and the irradiated at the Centro de Aplicaciones Tecnológicas y Desarrollo Nuclear (Ceaden) that belongs to the Agency of Nuclear Energyand advanced technologies of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment.
Once irradiated with gamma rays or X rays, the sterilized mosquito is unable to reproduce, while they keep the condition of being sexually competitive.
According to the source, the pilot study is part of the cooperation project with OIEA. It shows the feasibility of the technique of the sterile insect for the control of vectors and plagues in Cuba, it was done with the cooperation of the United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture(FAO)..
Source: Cubadebate