Geneva – Unitaid will invest US$ 59 million in two innovative projects to disrupt and cripple mosquito populations that spread malaria, participating in a global push to eliminate the disease.

Unitaid’s executive board has approved:

• a US$ 33.7 million grant to the University of Notre Dame to evaluate repellent-treated plastic sheets that drive mosquitos away from places where people live, including temporary shelters for displaced and refugee families where other vector control tools are not practical.

• a US$ 25.3 million grant to Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) to evaluate mass distribution of ivermectin to humans and livestock. Mosquitoes die quickly after biting those treated with the drug.

The two new projects seek to complement anti-malaria initiatives Unitaid already supports, including insecticide-treated bed nets, long-lasting indoor insecticide sprays, and better medicines for treatment and prevention.

University of Notre Dame’s five-year project, Advancing Spatial Repellents for Vector-Borne Disease Control, will focus on malaria in Kenya, Mali and Uganda, and on dengue fever in Sri Lanka.

Spatial repellents are chemicals introduced into the air to repel mosquitoes and disrupt their habits, including, possibly, their feeding and reproductive behavior.

ISGlobal’s project, known as BOHEMIA (Broad One Health Endectocide-based Malaria Intervention in Africa), seeks to reduce malaria transmission by killing biting mosquitos. The project will evaluate the mass-distribution of ivermectin in Tanzania and Mozambique during malaria season and collect data on its impact on human and animal health, mosquitoes, the economy, environment and community acceptance.

Unitaid is participating in a global push to end malaria as an epidemic via innovative diagnostics, prevention and treatment. Unitaid has sharply increased its malaria funding, which is on track to hit $US 400 million next year.