using drones in the fight against malaria

MALARIA IN AFRICA According to the World Health Organization, the African region carries a “disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden.” The region was home to 93% of malaria cases in 2018 alone and contributed to the deaths of 405,000 people, most of them children. Due to the amount of illness and death it causes, malaria creates a powerful negative impact on many national economies in sub-Saharan Africa. The disease is caused by a parasite that is carried by mosquitoes. When an infective mosquito bites a human, malaria is quickly transmitted, leading to severe illness and even death. Understanding the threat, governments have employed various prevention methods to stop the spread of the disease including: indoor residual spraying; mosquito netting programs; diagnostics testing and antimalarial medicines; and l’avicidine and spatial spraying. These interventions offer varying levels of success.