Can Malaria Be Eradicated by 2030?

Abstract

According to the 2020 World Health Organization (WHO) Malaria Report, there were 229 million malaria cases worldwide with a death toll of 409,000 in 2019. This information did not include asymptomatic malarial infections which can also have a significant impact on the health of infected individuals. Part of this may be due to the mosquitoes becoming resistant to the pyrethroid insecticide used in treated bed nets, especially if the bed nets are damaged with large holes, allowing mosquitoes to still transmit malaria. The overall reduction has tended to reach a plateau or declined in certain areas, such as the Amazon basin in Brazil where the transmission of Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum increased more than 20% in 2016–17. Increased implementation of chemical control programs has led to the emergence and spread of insecticide resistance in Anopheles sp. and Aedes sp. populations, indicating a need to examine whether entomopathogenic fungi can be used for controlling mosquito vectors. Deforestation and increased agricultural activities have probably resulted in greater exposure to outdoor biting by the female mosquitoes. Similarly In other areas, changes in human behaviour have increased socialising outdoors and shopping after sunset when it is cooler. Apart from some attention to larval source management, so far there has been no recommendation for space treatments to reduce outdoor biting. This is despite the extensive use of space treatments in the USA by the mosquito control organisations, using cold foggers on vehicles or applying a space spray from aircraft. There has also been consideration of using an autonomous unmanned aerial spray system (UASS), a drone to apply space sprays.