Vector Control Working Group Brief
By Patience Akumu and Konstantina Boutsika
Introduction: What would happen if we could not control the mosquito?
Folk tales on the mosquito, an insect that has killed people for centuries, abound. In all of them, the mosquito is errant, sly and resilient – even lucky. One folktale from Uganda is about the relationship between Mosquito and Ear. They were close friends, the folktale goes. Until Mosquito got an idea and asked Ear to marry her. Ear looked at Mosquito’s stature, legend has it that it was an anopheles mosquito, altogether slim and unappealing – with a mouth that looked like she was perpetually stirring something.
Ear promptly rejected Mosquito because she looked sickly. Ear could not trust that Mosquito could live another day, and he did not wish to be widowed. Humiliated, Mosquito flew away. Now he returns every night to torment Ear with a buzz:
“Buzzzz…. You thought I would die soon. Buzzzzz… I am still here.”
One mosquito is enough to keep you up all night. A flock of uncontrolled mosquitoes would cause more damage than we could ever envisage. With uncontrolled mosquitoes, humanity would not just be uncomfortable – lives would be lost. Many of these deaths would be from malaria which, even with efforts and scientific advances to control the mosquito vector, kills at least 600,000 people every year.1
In addition to malaria, mosquitoes spread other diseases such as dengue, yellow fever and zika. There are 725,000 deaths annually from all mosquito borne diseases, including malaria.2 This makes the mosquito the animal that kills the most people, ahead of more feared animals such as lions and snakes.3
Rising to face the mosquito
The Vector Control Working Croup has dedicated itself to coordinating efforts and bringing experts together to fight the mosquito. Working groups are one of the structures that RBM uses to tap into expertise within the partnership to work on different malaria issues. Created in 2005, the vector control working group is the oldest. This year VCWG is marking 20 years of working to outsmart the mosquito.
The work of the VCWG contributed to averting 12.7 million deaths from malaria in the last two decades.4 The scaling up the use of Insecticide Treated Mosquito Nets (ITNs), and Indoor Residual Spraying alone enabled a 75 percent reduction in malaria mortality.Over three billion nets have been delivered to endemic countries, allowing households to protect themselves from mosquitoes.5
Through continuous knowledge exchange, the Vector Control Working Group collaborates on interventions to meet rising challenges. For example, targeting mosquito breeding areas and Social Behavior Change Communication to ensure communities live in a clean and healthy environment. The group has contributed to ground-breaking interventions such as the introduction of dual insecticide treated mosquito nets in response to mosquitoes growing resistant to nets treated with one insecticide. The Vector Control Working Group has therefore gone beyond being a Working Group on Insecticide-treated mosquito Nets (WIN), as it was referred to at inception, to a VCWG that is leading on innovation and looking at creative approaches to outsmart the mosquito.
Still the mosquito arises
Yet the mosquito remains with us. Like it does to the ear in the folk take, it returns to torment humanity – leaving a trail of devastation. In 2023, there were an estimated 263 million new cases across 83 countries worldwide.6 This is up from 252 million cases last year.7 This means that nine million more people’s lives were impacted by malaria. They could have been children who missed school or farmers who missed the harvest season because they were too ill to go to the fields. They could be part of the 600,000 who lost their lives. Or they could be silently living with long term disabilities from the disease.
The rise in malaria cases, even as the number of deaths stagnate is testament to the resilience of the mosquito and begs the question: Is humanity ready for the challenge? Can we meet our 2030 goals on malaria elimination?
Certainly, countries such as Egypt and Cabo Verde being declared malaria free in the last two years present a beacon of hope. But with challenges such as anti-microbial and insecticide resistance, shrinking resources both internationally and within countries, erratic climate partners and rising humanitarian crises, the mosquito continues to thrive.
Conclusion and way forward
The VCWG recognizes that emerging challenges in controlling the mosquito vector require continuous innovation and resources. Only US$ 4 billion was invested in fighting malaria in 2023 – less than half of the US$ 8.3 billion needed to meet global targets.8 Over the past five years, the funding gap for malaria has continued to grow. It stood at 2.6 billion in 2019 and 4.3 billion in 2023.9
This funding gap affects all areas of malaria elimination, including vector control. Newer technologies cost money and not inventing to outsmart the mosquito costs lives. It is essential for national governments and international donors to prioritize funding to malaria and vector control to protect the gains made and steer the world to a path of progress.
It is also essential to take further steps to involve communities affected by malaria in creating and implementing innovative solutions to vector control to improve the likelihood of success. As it is often said, the mosquito has no borders. A mosquito carrying malaria in one corner of the world is a global health threat that we must decisively deal with.
Ms Patience Akumu is the Advocacy and Communications Manager, RBM
Dr Konstantina Boutsika is the Working Groups Specialist, RBM
[1] WHO (2024), World Malaria Report 2024 https://www.who.int/teams/global-malaria-programme/reports/world-malaria-report-2024#:~:text=According%20to%20WHO's%20latest%20World,the%20same%20number%20of%20deaths.
[2] Williams, L. (2024),10 deadliest animals to humans - discover the world's most lethal creatures https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/deadliest-animals-to-humans, https://www.who.int/teams/global-malaria-programme/reports/world-malaria-report-2024#:~:text=According%20to%20WHO's%20latest%20World,the%20same%20number%20of%20deaths.
[3]Supra
[4] Supra nº1
[5] IFRC (2023), Landmark reached as 3 billion mosquito nets shipped since 2004, protecting millions of people from malaria, https://allianceformalariaprevention.com/media-centre/recent-news/3-billion-nets-shipped-to-prevent-malaria/
[6] Supra, no 1
[7]Supra
[8] Supra no.1
[9] Supra
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