A brief history of selected malaria vaccine and medical interventions pursued by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and partners, 1943-2021

Abstract

In order to be successful in global health today, all the long-established European tropical research institutes had to undergo a transition which can be described as “hunter-gatherer” and descriptive approaches during colonial and postcolonial times to a deeper understanding of infection biology and finally to public health interventions from which populations at large can benefit. During the 1980s and 1990s, the Swiss Tropical Institute (today: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Swiss TPH) based in Basel too has changed its focus from individual medicine to a public health context. This article does not present new scientific data but takes a historical perspective. Its aim is to highlight the above-mentioned transformation by focusing on selected malaria research-cum-action interventions during the crucial period of the 1990s, which were tailored to the social-ecological settings where the disease was endemic. In order for this transformation to be successful, we intend to emphasise the importance of (i) having a fundamental understanding of local transmission; (ii) building and nurturing relationships with partner institutions; and (iii) developing a coherent research portfolio as key elements for researching and applying evidence in malaria control and elimination as part of national malaria control programmes.