Welcome

Malaria is a preventable disease. As Keziah L. Malm and Fredros Okumu welcome you to this course, they summarise the history of the struggle against malaria with its victories and new challenges.

At the end of the 19th century, scientists discovered that mosquitoes transmitted the parasite responsible for malaria. During the 20th century and particularly during the last 20 years, the control of this disease has made great progress. Breaking the transmission cycle has proven to be the most effective approach. Mosquitoes needed to be prevented from biting people, the mosquito population had to be reduced. Insecticides have played a key role in this endeavour. During the last 20 years, malaria cases seemed to be continually decreasing.

However, in recent years this decrease has slowed, or even reversed. Interventions based on insecticides became less effective as mosquitoes became less susceptible to them. If mosquitoes continue to develop resistance against insecticides, malaria cases may quickly rise again. Something needs to be done to prevent and mitigate this.

The central question of this course is:

• How can we stay ahead of the game in the fight against malaria?

Watch Keziah and Fredros give further context. What do you think needs to be done? Please share your concerns and thoughts in the comment section below.