# Regaining the path to malaria elimination: Lessons from the pandemic

## TL;DR

The paper discusses how lessons from the pandemic response can help improve malaria elimination efforts that have stalled due to various challenges.

## Contribution

The paper highlights how pandemic response strategies can be applied to malaria control and elimination.

## Key findings

- Malaria elimination efforts have stalled due to displacement, resistance, and competing health priorities.
- The pandemic response offers valuable lessons for addressing the ongoing malaria emergency.
- Experienced vector control work across multiple regions informs the proposed approach.

## Abstract

The stagnation in malaria elimination efforts can be attributed to several contributing reasons: large populations displaced by conflict and severe weather, insecticide and drug resistance, competing priorities with COVID-19 and Ebola. Part of the problem may also be us and our pre-pandemic systems. The accelerated response to the COVID-19 emergency carries lessons for global efforts against the ‘other emergency’, malaria. Michael has worked in vector control since 1977, beginning with Peace Corps in the Sabah (E. Malaysia) MCP. He earned an Sc.D. from Johns Hopkins researching malaria transmission in Pakistan; lived in Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Zambia with stints in the US and Geneva supporting programmes throughout Africa and Asia, working for Johns Hopkins and Boston Universities, USAID, WFP, UNHCR, WHO, IVCC and NGOs involved in public health entomology and vector control in Africa and Asia.