Very happy to share that a project with the participation of Sérgio F. Sousa (BioSIM) has been selected for funding by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), as part of the Global Grand Challenges Program, focusing on Outdoor Malaria Vector Control.
This NSFC/BMGF joint Grand Challenges program promotes international cooperation to develop innovative solutions for malaria vector control, focusing on outdoor vector control strategies, tools and products, with the goal of accelerating progress toward malaria eradication.
The program is part of the Grand Challenges China initiative co-established by NSFC and the BMGF in 2015 to fund research projects that contribute to safe, effective, affordable and scalable solutions to major global health and development challenges.
Malaria is a deadly yet preventable and treatable mosquito-borne disease affecting hundreds of millions of people annually. Despite progress made over the past two decades, malaria persists in over 85 low- and middle-income countries and communities. According to the 2021 World Malaria Report, there were an estimated 241 million malaria cases and 627,000 deaths globally in 2020, with Africa bearing about 95 percent of the disease burden.
Vector control is an essential component of malaria prevention, with the scale-up of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) or long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs), and expansion of indoor residual spraying (IRS) as key contributing factors. While the majority of malaria transmission occurs indoors, there are increasing concerns around the magnitude of outdoor transmission, where more investment in scientific and technological breakthroughs is much needed. With the joint call announced today, NSFC and the BMGF aim to promote international cooperation to identify and cultivate innovative strategies, techniques, products and tools that address specific challenges in outdoor malaria transmission.
The present project entitled “Development of Novel Vector Control Technology and Product Based on Traditional Chinese Medicine“, was one of the six finalists selected for funding, and includes researchers from the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with their international partners Ole Skovmand from the Landcent company and Sérgio Sousa.
More details can be found here.
