Let’s wipe out malaria – before it wipes us out

Mosquitoes are the world’s most dangerous and deadliest creatures. As tiny, annoying and seemingly insignificant as they are, mosquitoes have literally destroyed whole empires and dynasties throughout history. 

The old African cliche: “if you think you are too small to make a difference, try spending the night in a closed room with a mosquito,” is actually quite befitting and eerily factual because although mosquitoes are small, with an average length of 3.2mm to 1.9cm and weighing 2,5 milligrams, they are far from insignificant as they have – currently and historically – killed more human beings across the world than any other creature including humans themselves – almost a billion people annually. The huge death toll is because mosquitoes are vectors that lead to and spread multiple deadly diseases such as Zika, West Nile, dengue, yellow fever, Chikungunya, lymphatic filariasis and, most importantly for this article, the scourge of malaria. 

It should be highlighted from the onset that there are over 3 000 species of mosquitoes worldwide and not all of them are vectors or disease carriers and/or transmitters.  Most of the mosquito-borne diseases mentioned earlier are Neglected Tropical Diseases, or NTDs for short, which are infectious diseases that mostly affect, and disproportionately impact, the world’s poorest countries and its poorest people in their billions. 

I believe we should rename the NTDs “Neglected People Suffering from Tropical Diseases” because it is not the diseases that are neglected, per se. What’s forgotten are the impoverished people and their suffering,  as well as the downtrodden communities who bear the brunt of the pain, loss, and death because the world’s developed countries and global leaders forget about them. However, this debate is not in the scope of this article as I want to hone in on malaria (which is not part of the NTDs) and the carnage it causes, especially in Africa.

In mapping the end of malaria, Bill Gates purported that “malaria is the key reason mosquitoes are the deadliest animal in the world”. As such, I am choosing to focus on encouraging readers to begin to take malaria seriously and even use their own platforms, however big or small, to make calls to world leaders, philanthropists and scientists to pull funds and resources together to ensure that we work towards ending malaria within our lifetime — a dream that is within reach yet has hit a rough patch and a metaphorical speed bump as progress has regressed. 

On this World Mosquito Day, celebrated annually on 20 August to mark the anniversary of the discovery that mosquitoes, particularly female Anopheles mosquitoes, transmit the parasite that causes malaria, I want us to take a moment to educate ourselves, spread awareness and put our voices together in an urgent call to world leaders and scientists to ensure that we wipe malaria from the face of the earth before malaria wipes us out. 

In 1897, over 120 years ago, Sir Ronald Ross discovered that the malaria parasite in the stomach tissue of an Anopheles mosquito was responsible for transmitting the disease which helped discover that not all 3 000 species of mosquitoes are vectors. Only about three mosquito vectors are responsible for deadly human diseases, namely Aedis mosquitoes, which carry yellow fever and dengue; Culex mosquitoes which carry the West Nile virus and Anopheles mosquitoes which are the only known mosquitoes to be active vectors for malaria. The malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, which is responsible for the most severe and deadly cases, is transported by Anopheles mosquitoes. 

Malaria is a very much preventable, treatable and curable disease as we already have the knowledge, tools and technology, giving us the ability to end malaria in our lifetime. Tools and resources to fight malaria include insecticide-treated nets, vaccines (still in their pilot stages) and antimalarial pills. Mosquitoes are dangerously smart creatures and are developing resistance to some of the tools and resources, therefore, there is also a need for development and release of new antimalarials and insecticides. 

Thanks to an exceptional and collaborative global effort since 2000, malaria deaths have been cut by almost one-third, with over 10 million lives saved — mostly young children in Africa. However, malaria deaths in Africa have been rising — between 2019 and 2020 there was a 12% increase in deaths on the continent, partly owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. They are now at the highest level in nearly a decade with over 627 000 lives lost in 2020 alone and, of these, 481 000 were children under five in Africa. As an African this bothers me deeply as I am worried about the future of the continent. These stats are staggering and a sober reminder to make calls louder and clearer for the world to fight to end malaria. 

As a training coordinator for a UK organisation involved in combating the disease, as well as a Malaria Champion and spokesperson for the Zero Malaria Starts With Me — Draw the Line Against Malaria campaign, I have joined forces with scientists, celebrities, activists, philanthropists and others from across the world to put pressure on world leaders to care about ending malaria in our lifetime.

This year’s campaign, which launched on Africa Day in May, puts the Global Fund Replenishment call to action in focus. This next chapter of the campaign uses young people’s energy and enthusiasm, high-profile visibility and media to send a powerful message to world leaders to commit to ending malaria. This was done at the Kigali Summit on Malaria & NTDs in June and will also be championed at the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment in New York in September. The Kigali summit saw governments, the private sector and philanthropists pledge to help to accelerate the global fight to beat deadly diseases with commitments totalling more than $4-billion. 

This show of international solidarity in the fight to beat malaria is an important milestone ahead of the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment. The institution funds more than half of all malaria programmes worldwide. It requires $18-billion in new resources to get the fight to end malaria back on track. 

With its proven track record, a fully resourced and replenished Global Fund is critical to ending malaria, advancing health equity and building resilient health systems in the world.  Our mission is to shine the biggest spotlight possible on malaria and to give leaders a platform to take action, a reward for their commitments, and to back them with a bold public mandate. 

The #ZeroMalariaStartsWithMe – Draw The Line Against Malaria campaign coalition comprises  the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, African Union, African Leaders Malaria Alliance, Speak Up Africa, Impact Santé Afrique, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Goodbye Malaria, Malaria No More UK and many more partners from around the world. 

My personal mission is to inspire and encourage young people to join the Zero Malaria Starts With Me movement and make them believe they can be the generation that ends malaria for good. Young people, especially those in Africa, need to speak out and say “we’re here to fight malaria” because I believe that their voices matter.  

The year 2022 is a crucial one in the fight against ending malaria, with deaths at their highest for nearly a decade, and funding on a knife edge with the Global Fund Replenishment conference happening in September. We cannot allow ourselves to lose the fight; we must get back on track. Young African children and pregnant women are the most vulnerable to severe malaria and today 1 300 children will lose their lives to malaria – that is one young life lost every minute. This reality bothers me so much that I have unashamedly begun using my very loud and deep voice to garner support and become a loyal malaria champion spreading the gospel of hope and healing —  malaria has indeed met its match! 

So, we hope that the new film, Turn up  the Pressure – Draw the Line Against Malaria, which includes celebrities and ambassadors such as Bonang Matheba and David Beckham, and malaria champions such as myself, will draw global attention to the fight and put pressure on world leaders to pledge money and resources towards ending malaria. 

Progress stalled as the world rightly panicked and focused its resources and funds on the Covid-19 pandemic, however, we can fight multiple diseases at once, in fact, we can use the lessons and skills learnt in fighting and ending malaria to equip ourselves to fight any future pandemics. We do not have to choose or prioritise one disease over another as that creates further issues and unnecessary illness and deaths. 

Together, we can beat malaria. Below I outline a few things you can do to help end malaria:

1. Educate yourself – there are many reputable courses available, such as the Malaria X online course by Harvard University, which is free of charge. 
2. I truly believe that everyone’s voice matters in this war against malaria and, if we earnestly do not want to leave anyone behind, we must empower the African youth, who are the future scientists and leaders, to speak up and add their voices in this fight. My practical advice is that young people must create and/or use social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, to share posts by the Zero Malaria Campaign,  sign the pledge by the Global Fund  to #FightForWhatCounts and join the RBM Partnership to amplify their message and add their weight to the call to world leaders to ensure we end malaria. 
3. Access, use and share social media toolkits from the malaria community such as the RBM Partnership World Mosquito Day 2022 Partner Toolkit (adobe.com). 
4.  Explore the resources from organisations such as MalariaGEN  who are working with scientists from malaria endemic countries globally, and in Africa. Read up on their work and follow their progress.  
5. Attend conferences such as PAMCA and ASTMH  to learn from people on the ground how far we are in the fight and what research and scientific discoveries are being made.
6. Attend talks, such as this one I gave, and watch talks by other experts in the field, such as the TED talk by Dr Fredros Okumu about why he studies mosquitoes. 
7. Pressure political leaders and the wealthy to donate  money and resources towards the malaria fight.

The point is, you do not need to be an expert in malaria or mosquitoes in order to take action or do something meaningful in contributing towards the fight to end malaria. Your agency, voice, interest and power are enough to put pressure on world leaders to take malaria seriously — and to also save lives.

Paballo Chauke, one of the Mail & Guardian‘s 200 Young South Africans in 2018, is a Malaria Champion, the spokesperson for the Zero Malaria Starts With Me — Draw the Line Against Malaria campaign and a training coordinator for a UK-based organisation involved in combating the disease.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Mail & Guardian.