STEPPING UP OUR GAME: THE FIGHT AGAINST MALARIA NEEDS TO BE A STRONG ONE

Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft along with his wife Melinda, have been fighting Malaria for a long time. In 2005, the foundation created $258 million dollars worth of grants to fund work on vaccine development, treatment drugs, and innovative mosquito control. And yet there is still so much to do. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, in 2016, the number of malaria cases rose for the first time in 10 years. Bill Gates says, “If we don’t keep innovating, we will go backward.” He is the king of innovation so we’d best listen.

THE MALARIA SUMMIT

Government leaders from the UK, Rwanda, and Swaziland met at the 2018 Malaria Summit in London to discuss the future of malaria control. Gates was one of the speakers. He focused on two key themes: maintaining commitment and surveillance. By commitment, he meant commitment to funding. The UK plans to spend 500 million pounds a year over the next three years while the Gates foundation will up their investment by 1 billion dollars until 2023. Gates believes with this commitment, more can be done within the next 5 years than has been done over the last 15 in the fight against malaria. His next focus, surveillance, is where the need for new innovation comes in. Gates tells us that it is real-time data that will help us reach new levels of mosquito control over the next five years. Data is the “lifeblood of how we are going to be smarter”, says Gates.

Between 2015 and 2016 malaria cases rose by about 5 million. This is the warning that more work has to be done. The Gates Foundation is dedicated to this cause. So are we. Mosquito Squad of Leominster donates $1 for every treatment service purchased to Malaria No More. We are glad to be part of the mission to rid the world of this awful disease. And at home, we continue the mission of keeping our community protected from mosquitoes and the diseases they carry. Our barrier sprays eliminate 90% of mosquitoes on contact and continue to work for 3 weeks. We would love to tell you more about our services and our commitment to mosquito control at home and across the globe. Call us today.