The global public health community has made huge strides in malaria elimination over recent decades. But this infectious disease, spread by the female Anopheles mosquito, still kills more than 600,000 people each year — many of them children in Africa, a continent with a disproportionally high burden of disease.
The Malaria Elimination Initiative (MEI) at UCSF’s Institute for Global Health Sciences dares to imagine a world free from malaria. Thanks to a new four-year, $10-million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the MEI is committed to advancing this vision by strengthening the capabilities of countries heavily impacted by malaria to monitor mosquito populations and slow their growth.
“We’ve seen remarkable advancements in reducing malaria transmission through effective interventions such as bednets and indoor residual spraying,” said Edward Thomsen, PhD, MSc, associate director for vector control and surveillance within the MEI. “As we get closer to elimination, we must get creative to address the remaining areas of transmission effectively.”
Thomsen is a co-principal investigator on the grant, along with Allison Tatarsky, MPH, director of the MEI.
Since 2007, the MEI has partnered with countries worldwide to support local malaria elimination programs and enhance surveillance capabilities. This grant will focus on collaborative efforts in five African countries where malaria burden remains high: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria and Uganda. The latter two countries are new partners for the MEI, though Uganda has been working with the UCSF School of Medicine on malaria research for several years.
A central goal in these countries is to support governmental efforts to enhance mosquito surveillance programs, and nearly half of the grant funds will be allocated directly to partner organizations. These funds will support a fellowship program aimed at providing local vector control and surveillance specialists with professional development opportunities and further education. The money will also go towards strengthening the capabilities of local organizations to meet their malaria elimination objectives. These efforts support the MEI’s commitment to empower local leadership, as illustrated by their Malaria Elimination Toolkit.
“Our collaboration with local partners aims to ensure sustainability,” Thomsen said, noting that one of the goals of the program is to equip local leaders with the necessary tools and support to continue driving malaria elimination efforts after the project concludes.
The remaining grant funds will go towards several initiatives, including building consensus among international experts around how to evaluate larval control programs. These programs target juvenile mosquitoes that live in water, and have seen limited adoption in Africa despite their potential to reduce disease transmission.
In addition to saving lives, the economic benefits of eradicating malaria far outweigh the upfront costs, Thomsen said. “While the initial investment is considerable, the long-term gains from eliminating malaria are immense and enduring.”