By Stephanie Mukandairo
African health officials are urgently exploring revolutionary gene drive technology to combat malaria as traditional control methods face mounting challenges, including a staggering $60 billion annual funding shortfall and increasing mosquito resistance to existing interventions.
They were speaking at a recent webinar on sustainable financing for malaria control and elimination efforts in Africa, hosted by the African Union Development Agency (AUDA).
Professor Dickson Wilson Lwetoijera, a principal research scientist and Malaria vector control expert, said, unlike traditional genetic modifications that follow normal inheritance patterns, gene drives can achieve up to 100% inheritance rates, allowing beneficial modifications to spread through entire mosquito populations within just a few generations.
“We can either crush the entire population or make mosquitoes unable to transmit the parasite,” Prof. Lwetoijera explained. The technology uses molecules derived from African frogs and European honey bees to block malaria parasite development within mosquitoes.
He acknowledged that gene drive technology requires careful regulatory oversight and community engagement. “There’s already a biosafety system in particular countries with institutional research committees and national-level reviews,” Prof. Lwetoijera noted, adding that the technology must address ethical, ecological, and public acceptance concerns before deployment, with multiple layers of safety review at both institutional and national levels.
Similarly, Professor Fredros Okumu from the University of Glasgow and Ifakara Health Institute, a leading expert in mosquito biology, stressed the urgent need for such innovations, noting that while malaria burden per capita appears to have decreased in many areas, the rapid human population growth in Africa has kept absolute case numbers relatively stable.
“Even achieving a 20% reduction in malaria burden is often overtaken by increased population,” Okumu observed.
The funding landscape presents stark realities, with malaria control financing remaining flat since 2000 while commodity prices continue to rise. Recent cuts from donor partners have disrupted critical research, including next-generation malaria vaccines and HIV prevention tools, while weakening supply chains for life-saving commodities.
However, promising developments are emerging through Africa-led initiatives. Malaria councils have mobilized $150 million for country-led efforts, with two new councils launched during this year’s World Malaria Day.
These multi-sectoral partnerships between the public and private sectors demonstrate the potential for sustainable, locally-owned solutions that could reduce dependence on external donors.
Joy Phumaphi, Executive Secretary of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance, emphasized the need for African governments to invest in health as an essential pillar of development, calling for effective public health insurance programs and clearly defined roles for private sector participation.
African governments are being urged to invest more boldly in health innovation while strengthening regulatory frameworks to ensure that transformative technologies can be safely and effectively deployed.
The webinar emphasized that while gene drives aren’t a “silver bullet,” they represent a crucial tool in the pipeline for achieving malaria elimination goals.
Phumaphi echoed, “Zero malaria starts with me and starts with all of us”-a rallying cry for the integrated approach combining innovation, financing, and collaborative partnerships needed to overcome one of Africa’s greatest health challenges.
The webinar, focused on the potential role of innovative vector control tools and technologies, bringing together experts to explore transformative solutions that could revolutionize malaria elimination strategies.
