How can we eliminate malaria?

In the past decade there has been little progress in lowering malaria cases, with over half a million people still dying from the mosquito-borne disease every year. We look at the big ideas and innovations of the future that could help us eliminate malaria once and for all.

What would happen if we got rid of the insect responsible for spreading the malaria parasite? Claudia heads to Imperial College London where she is joined by Dr Federica Bernardini and their 120 colonies of mosquitos to find out how revolutionary genetic technologies are aiming to do just that.

Picking up on Imperial’s work in the field is Principal Investigator at Target Malaria in Uganda, Dr Jonathan Kayondo. His job is to understand what it would mean to release these modified mosquitos into the wild.

Looking at the existing tools that need levelling up is Dr Rob Moon, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and Dr James Tibenderana, Chief Executive at the Malaria Consortium. Alongside Claudia they look at the next generation of vaccines and the importance of accessible rapid diagnostic tests.

But is all this going to be enough to eliminate malaria?

Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Katie Tomsett