Course on the Science of Malaria Eradication

Over 60 participants from a variety of organisations such as health ministries, research centres, hospitals, universities, and international organisations, including the World Health Organization and the United Nations, attended the course "Science of Eradication: Malaria", which took place in Boston from 3-11 June. The course was organized by the Harvard School of Public Health School in collaboration with the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute.

The course provided participants with an interdisciplinary perspective on the eradication of malaria, with a focus on topics ranging from public health and medical aspects of the disease to topics such as the history of eradication efforts, the science of malaria, economic and financial tools and strategies, the role of the private sector, social and political factors, vaccines, and treatment.

The course arose as a result of a previous collaboration between the three institutions in the Malaria Eradication Research Agenda (malERA) project set up to establish the research agenda for the eradication of malaria. The results of the malERA project, which was led by CRESIB, ISGlobal's research centre, were published in PloS Medicine in January 2011. ISGlobal is now coordinating the Malaria Eradication Scientific Alliance (MESA), which is responsible for monitoring R&D malaria eradication and for providing a meeting place for scientific community working in this area.