The African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) participated in an upcoming symposium on Gene drive mosquitoes for Malaria Control: A new Horizon for Public Health? on 25 April 2022, from 09:00-12:30 EST. The symposium, hosted by The Carter Center and the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, brought together scientists, public health practitioners, ethicists, historians, and ministry of health officials from malaria-endemic countries to discuss issues surrounding the integration of these new technologies into malaria control programs.
Recent advances in gene drive mosquito technologies have created new possibilities for accelerating the elimination of malaria and other mosquito-transmitted diseases. But the implications of these new technologies for public health policy and practice have not been fully explored.
Prof. Richard Mukabana, AFIDEP’s Director of the Platform for Dialogue and Action on Health Technologies (the Health Tech Platform), was a panellist, speaking on Deploying gene drive mosquitoes for malaria elimination: How to speak to African policy makers.
Other speakers:
· Malaria control and elimination – current status, challenges, and prospects- Gregory Noland, The Carter Center
· Can better biomedical technologies eliminate malaria? An historical perspective – Randall M Packard, Johns Hopkins University –
· Perspectives from malaria eliminating countries: The Dominican Republic- Keyla Ureña, Center for Prevention and Control of Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, Dominican Republic
· Current State of the Art of Gene Drive Technologies – David O’Brochta, Foundation for the National Institutes of Health
· Deploying gene drive mosquitoes for malaria elimination: How to speak to African policy makers – Richard Mukabana, University of Nairobi