In the opening keynote speech of the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Bill Gates called upon the international community to drive towards eradicating malaria in this generation, calling it one the greatest opportunities the global health world has ever had.
Drawing on the successes achieved through the unprecedented scale-up of resources since 2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed to spend $500m on malaria eradication in 2014, as well as increasing its malaria budget by 30 percent. Bill Gates’ optimism is fuelled by recent innovations, such as rapid diagnostic tests which have transformed the diagnosis and treatment of malaria, and developments in modelling systems, made possible by the digital revolution and the proliferation of mobile phones in Africa.
Malaria Consortium will be giving a number of presentations at the 63rd annual American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene meeting in New Orleans. Follow us on Twitter @FightingMalaria for the latest developments.
Keywords: Digital strategies | Diagnosis | Elimination | Advocacy and policy