Keystone Symposia and MESA concluded its first conference in Mexico

The conference "The Science of Malaria Eradication", organized by the Keystone Symposia, in collaboration with MESA (Malaria Eradication Scientific Alliance), brought together experts from 37 countries from multiple disciplines in Merida, Mexico. Speakers from academia, government and nonprofit organizations discussed the range of initiatives that are now in development or being implemented, including R&D toward novel vaccine candidates that block parasite transmission, R&D toward new antimalarial drug targets, genetic engineering approaches for controlling parasite-infected mosquitoes, as well as the latest health systems research, and surveillance approaches. Participants agreed that there is no single magic bullet for malaria eradication and a multi-faceted approach must be deployed.

By showcasing new evidence, recent data and emerging challenges, the meeting helped energize researchers in the field and catalyze new collaborations between investigators addressing different aspects of this urgent problem. It is three years since the publication of Malaria Eradication Research Agenda (malERA), which laid the foundation for revamped research and development for malaria eradication. The Keystone Symposia meeting highlighted the progress that has been made and the challenges that lie ahead. While malaria mortality has fallen by 45% since 2000, there were 627,000 deaths globally in 2012, and 97 countries still had ongoing malaria transmission in 2013, according to the World Malaria Report 2013.

The four-day conference was part of the Keystone Symposia Global Health Series and was supported in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which funded travel awards for investigators from malaria-endemic countries as well as registration fees for investigators from Latin America.