The problem
Malaria remains one of the world’s deadliest diseases, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where over 90% of global malaria deaths occur. Despite significant gains in malaria prevention, progress has stalled in recent years.
Vector control tools, such as insecticide-treated nets and indoor residual spraying, remain the cornerstone of malaria prevention, but their effectiveness is increasingly threatened by insecticide resistance, changes in mosquito behavior and other environmental factors. Expanding the range of effective tools to prevent malaria is now more critical than ever to protect the most vulnerable communities.
The World Health Organization (WHO)’s conditional recommendation of spatial emanators – also known as spatial repellents – in combination with insecticide-treated nets, , marks a significant milestone in the fight against malaria. Unitaid-funded research helped generate the evidence underpinning this recommendation and has opened the way for a new class of malaria prevention tools to be introduced at scale.
Our response
Spatial emanators are the first new class of vector control tools in decades. Unitaid’s new investment will support the deployment of spatial emanators as they move to scale in countries, generating practical evidence to help inform decisions on where and how these new tools can have the greatest impact.
CANVeCT, led by the Cameroon-based Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID), and implemented in partnership with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), is a five-year initiative that will generate real-world evidence on the use of spatial emanators across different transmission settings, mosquito species and population groups, while contributing to the evolution of WHO recommendations and guidance.
The project will also broaden its evidence-generation agenda to examine the potential contribution of spatial emanators to the prevention and control of Aedes-borne diseases, as well as to evaluate how insecticide-treated baby wraps could be implemented in different countries and contexts.
The project will complement CONVINCE, led by Swiss TPH, to strengthen the evidence base and support sustainable access and scale-up, while helping shape a stable, competitive market for new vector control tools.
