'For me the only good mosquito is a dead mosquito...

The scientists aiming to end malaria

- By Hanna Geissler

DR Sarah Moore gave the Daily Express a tour of the institute where she and hundreds of other scientists have dedicated their careers to fighting malaria, and declared: “For me, the only good mosquito is a dead mosquito.”

After decades of progress, those on the frontline of this epidemiological battle believe eradication of the deadly disease is within reach.

But funding cuts as countries including the UK and US slash international aid threaten to reverse their hard-won gains.

I joined the charity Malaria No More UK in Tanzania to witness its lifesaving work there.

Medical entomologist Dr Moore, born in Wales and trained in Bristol, has worked at the Ifakara Health Institute, a leading African research organisation, for 20 years.

As she shows us around the institute’s Bagamoyo site, two hours’ drive from Dar Es Salaam, she explains the huge strides made.

“When I first started, a child was dying from malaria every minute,” Dr Moore says. “Now it’s one every three minutes. So that’s a pretty impressive improvement, but we’re at a crossroads.”

There were 263 million global malaria cases in 2023, up from 252 million in 2022, according to the World Health Organization, with the disease claiming 597,000 lives in 83 countries. The WHO estimates that 2.2 billion cases and 12.7 million deaths have been averted by efforts to prevent and treat the disease since 2000, but it remains a serious global threat.

Modifying

At Bagamoyo, within a complex system of interlocking doors and climatic chambers, research scientist Prisca Kweyamba is breeding some very important mosquitoes.