In a ground-breaking new short film, produced by RSA Films Amsterdam, for the campaign Malaria Must Die, So Millions Can Live, David Beckham appears as never been seen before – as an older man in his 70’s – sending a message of hope and optimism from a time in the future when we have eradicated one of the world’s oldest and deadliest diseases – malaria.

Against the backdrop of the on-going global disruption due to the far-reaching impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the film aims to reignite the belief that humankind is capable of uniting to defeat diseases, and in doing so we can create a safer, healthier, stronger world for us all, and for future generations.

Developed by Ridley Scott Creative Group, Amsterdam, and Directed by John Filipe, the film opens with an older Beckham delivering an inspiring speech to a large, expectant crowd. As he continues to speak, a visual transformation takes place, and the older man changes back into David Beckham today, speaking as a father and directly to everyone watching, about how a future free of malaria in our lifetimes is entirely possible – but only if we keep up the fight.

David Beckham is a founding member of Malaria No More UK Leadership Council and a committed champion in the fight against malaria with over a decade of support for Malaria No More UK. In his long-term role as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador he has seen the impact of malaria on people’s lives in countries such as Sierra Leone.

David Beckham said: “The fight against malaria is a cause close to my heart because the disease remains a huge killer of children and we have the opportunity to change that in our lifetime. I’ve worked with Malaria No More UK since 2009, supporting campaigns and helping shine a light on the challenge. Their campaigns always use great creativity and innovation to attract attention to the issue and I’m delighted also to have met some of the inspiring people who are working so hard to end this disease.”

To accompany the main film there is a behind-the-scenes montage film which features leading scientists, doctors, researchers, activists, and champions from key organisations who are all playing a critical part in helping to end malaria in a generation.

Ingrid Etoke, IVCC said: Growing up in Cameroon in West Africa, I always had the shadow of malaria hanging over me. I suffered from malaria many times and I lost my cousins to the disease. But it doesn’t have to be this way. I believe that in the not-too-distant future, we will beat this disease and young children dying from malaria will become an old and distant memory. This will mean more funds are freed up to invest in education, in infrastructure, in the economy, in healthcare in defeating other diseases and in doing so creating a world that is better prepared to take on future pandemics.”

Malaria has plagued humanity throughout history and ending it has, at times, felt like a distant dream. Progress to end the disease has stalled over recent years. Countries and leaders need to maintain funding, commit to greater access to existing tools and invest in new transformative tools to ensure that ending malaria is a high priority.

This global coalition campaign asks everyone to share the film far and wide on social media, and in doing so, demand that their leaders remain committed to delivering a safer, malaria-free world that we now know is possible.

Experts convened by the World Health Organisation (WHO) agree that malaria eradication is likely to save millions of lives and billions of dollars. In 2019 The Lancet Commission on malaria eradication – made up of leading scientists from around the world – found that if we focus efforts on strengthening leadership, increasing investment, prioritising research and innovation, including the development of new tools, and implementing smart, data driven programmes, ending malaria is possible within a generation. Decisions made now by global political leaders – backed by strong public support – will determine this trajectory.

Dr Pedro Alonso, Director of the WHO Global Malaria Programme, said: “Two decades of global commitment and action have shown the world that the global malaria community knows what it takes to drive unprecedented progress in the malaria fight, cutting deaths by more than 60 per cent and saving more than 7 million lives since 2000. But the world we live in has vastly changed since then, and the far-reaching impact of COVID-19 on malaria responses may not be known for some time.  

“The emergence of COVID-19 has shown the world how critical our health systems are. It is crucial that 2021 sees the world getting back on track towards achieving existing targets to reduce malaria as we come through the pandemic. By investing in ending malaria, we will not only save lives that would otherwise be lost to this deadly disease; we will also protect current health systems

 from the double burden of malaria and other diseases like COVID-19. Increased investment in malaria also helps to build the foundations of stronger health systems going forward which will protect communities from future health crises, giving children everywhere a better start in life and building a more secure world for all.”

Indeed, this year’s WHO World Malaria Report, shows that now is not the time to step away, with over 400,000 malaria deaths reported in 2019, predominantly among children under five across Sub-Saharan Africa.

The report also reveals that COVID-19 poses a threat to malaria progress, but that existing investment and infrastructure to date – combined with a remarkable collective effort – has enabled countries to fight back. Most malaria prevention campaigns moved forward in 2020 without major delays – millions of mosquito nets will have been delivered by end of year, hundreds of thousands of houses have been sprayed with insecticide, and millions of children have been reached with preventative treatment.

However, even with the remarkable actions taken by countries, malaria cases and deaths may rise since history has shown that malaria will return with a vengeance when health systems are disrupted. The World Malaria Report shows that interruptions in diagnosis and treatment have ranged from between 5% to 50%, and the full impact of COVID-19 on malaria responses may not be known for some time.

The World Malaria Report, published annually, provides a comprehensive update on global and regional malaria data and trends. The report tracks investments in malaria programmes and research as well as progress across all intervention areas: prevention, diagnosis, treatment and surveillance. It also includes dedicated chapters on malaria elimination and on key threats in the fight against malaria. The report is based on information received from national malaria control programmes and other partners in endemic countries.

This year WHO is publishing a special edition of the World Malaria Report that highlights a period of unprecedented success in global malaria control. Beginning in the 1990s, the world laid the foundation for a renewed malaria response that contributed to 1.5 billion cases and 7.6 million deaths averted over the past two decades. Despite this remarkable progress, the global gains in combatting malaria have levelled off in recent years, and many high burden countries have been losing ground. In 2017, WHO warned that the fight against malaria had reached a crossroads. The “High Burden to High Impact” response, launched in 2018, aims to reignite progress.

Find out more in this years World Malaria Report.

IVCC, in partnership with Imperial College, London, is delighted to welcome Dr Ellie Sherrard-Smith as its first co-funded Research Fellow.  Working between Imperial’s Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology within the School of Public Health and Liverpool based IVCC, Ellie will provide IVCC with expert mathematical modelling advice on its product development programme and vector control projects.

Using the Imperial Malaria model, Ellie will identify modelling needs and interpreting new research related to the modelling of vector control products and guide IVCC activities to maximise impact.  Using modelling to explore statistically characterised novel tools, Ellie’s work will provide public health impact estimates and test the impact of novel interventions to optimise product Target product profiles (TPPs).

Prior to joining IVCC as a Research Fellow, Ellie was a Research Associate where she focused on the impact of combining malaria interventions such as drugs and vaccine, vector control and larval source management.

Ellie holds a BSc in Zoology and a PhD in Parasitology, both from Cardiff University.

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and its ARCTEC team, IVCC and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) are launching a brand new free online course on the control of vector borne diseases such as malaria, dengue and Zika virus, to help fight these diseases, which remain as prevalent and dangerous as ever during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Vector borne diseases account for 17% of all infectious diseases. In recent months, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the suspension of many national vector control programmes in disease-endemic countries, despite a plea from the World Health Organization (WHO) to government officials discouraging such action.

For example, a recent study has predicted 81,000 additional deaths in Nigeria due to the disruption to malaria control programs caused by COVID-19, further highlighting a critical need for education and training at a community level in coordinating effective vector control practices.

Progress on the control of all vector borne diseases is at great risk and now, more than ever, accurate information and education is needed to ensure vector control is not disrupted.

Now, the LSHTM and its ARCTEC team, in partnership with the IVCC and LSTM, has designed a massive open online course (MOOC) titled ‘The Global Challenge of Vector Borne Diseases and How to Control Them’.

This innovative and exciting six-week free online course will allow participants to explore the wide range of vectors and the diseases they transmit and learn about traditional and modern vector control. The course will cover state of the art vector control and importantly, participants will also learn about the suitability of vector control practices in the world today.

Using videos, presentations, articles and discussions, participants will hear from a wide range of world-leading experts from around the world, and across disciplines including epidemiology, entomology, vector biology, social science and health systems.

The course is specifically designed for anyone with an interest in vector borne diseases and public health. We particularly encourage those working in global and public health to enroll; including government stakeholders, health workers, those working on vector control programmes, vector researchers and industry employees.

 

“We are thrilled to launch this exciting new course on controlling vector borne diseases in partnership with IVCC and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt national vector control programs, it is critically important that education and training in coordinating effective vector control practices happens at a community level and this free course will help to achieve this.”

Professor James Logan, LSHTM, lead educator for this course.

 

 “IVCC is delighted to have supported the development of this MOOC.  Vector control has proven to be a critical intervention in the fight against malaria.  This MOOC will help anyone with an interest in vector control learn not just the history of vector control but also the advances being made by organisations like IVCC to bring to market novel vector control interventions to address the growing threat of insecticide resistance.”

Nick Hamon, CEO, IVCC

 

“LSTM is delighted to have partnered with IVCC and LSHTM to put together this course. Online learning has proved itself to be extremely important during the current situation, especially for those that are unable to attend courses in person, so the MOOC opens the doors and gives access to those who wouldn’t normally have it. Vector control has been critical to the reduction of malaria cases in recent decades and increasing the capacity of vector control now, particularly given the backdrop of programmes being interrupted by COVID and the issue of insecticide resistance, has never been more vital.”

Dr Michael Coleman, LSTM

The MOOC, which will officially launch on Monday 21^st September, is open for free enrollment on the FutureLearn site via this link.

LITE (Liverpool Insect Testing Establishment) has launched a new website. LITE was established by Liverpool School of Tropical Medical (LSTM) and funded and supported by IVCC. LITE is a facility that tests new insecticides or repellent based products against a wide range of mosquito populations for commercial partners. Novel insecticides are being sought to help manage insecticide resistance and to counteract the spread of infection by insecticide resistant vectors. LITE maintains a range of insecticide susceptible and resistant colonies of mosquitoes and offers several testing methodologies for insecticide efficacy testing. MHRA accepted LITE, as a provisional member to the GLPMA programme from 23 March 2020, with testing performed to standard operating procedures and quality monitored standards by fully trained and qualified staff.

Visit the website to learn more.