Recent assessments of controlling the vectors of malaria have shown that due to reliance of treatments inside houses, malaria transmission is still occurring as people are more active outdoors during the evening after sunset. During several visits to Cameroon, it was noticeable that, at least in the towns, there was considerable activity outdoors after sunset as people preferred to go shopping or socialise with friends when it was cooler. However, as in other countries in Africa, the emphasis has been put on the distribution of insecticide treated bednets while indoor residual spraying (IRS) has also been used. A pilot study in six villages in a malaria-endemic area examined different mosquito control interventions applied to entire villages to assess their impact on vectors, malaria incidence and the quality of life of the communities. One of the villages was left untreated during the year of the trial. One of the other villages which had been treated with IRS and bednets treated with ICON CS (lambda-cyhalothrin capsule suspension formulation) or another that had improved screening of houses combined with outdoor misting showed reduced numbers of mosquitoes collected from exit traps compared to the other treatments. More malaria sporozoites were detected in mosquitoes sampled in exit traps in the untreated village than in the treated villages. Malaria incidence several months after both IRS/ITN and screening/misting treatments was not significantly different from pre-treatment levels. In retrospect, the village with house improvement and outdoor misting was almost as effective as using both treated bed nets and IRS inside houses, indicating important transmission outdoors. A subsequent study showed that, as expected, the treated bed nets were of greater importance in protecting young children remaining under the nets throughout the night than adults.