Dr Astrid Bonfield
CEO, Malaria No More UK
We can end malaria in our lifetimes. This ancient disease still kills hundreds of thousands of children yearly, despite being preventable.
It’s worth repeating this as it’s easy to forget amidst the perfect storm of threats we face from climate change to insecticide resistance and funding shortfalls. But thanks to great leaps in scientific understanding, we are better equipped to tackle this disease.
Malaria-fighting advancements launched
Groundbreaking vaccines have been rolled out across malaria-endemic countries just this year, next-generation bed nets are fighting back against resistance and new tools in the pipeline, like ‘gene drive’ technologies, offer future solutions too. Scientific innovation powered by global collaboration gives us hope.
It is precisely this spirit of optimism and possibility we aimed to communicate through the Zero Malaria Experience; an immersive, interactive installation which launched in London earlier in November to highlight the life-saving potential of malaria science (see supplement cover).
Groundbreaking vaccines have been
rolled out across malaria-endemic
countries just this year.
Partnership and leadership crucial for research
The awareness-raising effort was made possible by a global alliance of campaigners and experts, and fronted by Malaria No More UK Ambassador, David Beckham. David’s unerring passion for the cause of ending malaria paired with his near unrivalled reach to audiences across the globe, helped project our message of hope to those with the power to change the future.
With 2025 being a crucial year for malaria funding, it’s vital that policymakers hear loud and clear the importance of funding organisations like Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to ensure the tools we have reach those who need them. Alongside this, governments, including ours here in the UK, must provide the financial backing our scientists need to secure a pipeline of malaria innovations for the future, too.
With this leadership, we can get the malaria fight back on track to help end the disease within our lifetimes. Doing so would save millions of children’s lives, stimulate billions in global economic growth and free up capacity in health systems to conquer other diseases. A ‘Zero Malaria’ world is possible.
