2023 Highlights

2023 stands out as the year that began to put health at the center of climate action and investment.

NO ONE SHOULD DIE FROM A MOSQUITO BITE

Your partnership and support fuels Malaria No More’s work to mobilize the political commitment, funding, and innovation required to achieve what would be one of the greatest humanitarian accomplishments – eliminating malaria in our lifetimes.

LETTER FROM OUR CEO

To our partners and supporters –

2023 stands out as the year that began to put health at the center of climate action and investment. The flooding in Pakistan the year prior demonstrated that the second-wave health impacts (in this case malaria, dengue, and cholera outbreaks) can be as devastating as the floods themselves. East Africa experienced record droughts, followed by record floods, and Malawi experienced the longest sustained cholera outbreak on record.

We see climate change as both a challenge and an opportunity for health. Malaria is one of the most climate-sensitive infectious diseases, and Malaria No More has been focused on the intersection of climate and health since 2019 with the launch of our Forecasting Healthy Futures initiative. Last March, we hosted nearly 200 leaders representing 140 organizations and more than 40 countries in Abu Dhabi for the inaugural Forecasting Healthy Futures Global Summit to explore innovative solutions to adapt and respond to the pressures of climate change.

The challenge will only get harder in the decades to come. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) predicts that the global annual temperature is likely to breach the 1.5°C threshold prior to 2030, and rising temperatures are projected to expose billions more people to life-threatening health conditions, including infectious disease outbreaks.

Despite new challenges, the pipeline of malaria innovations is bursting with promising new therapies, vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and novel mosquito technologies that could drastically reduce – or even eliminate – the growing risks introduced by climate change. We’re also seeing real advances in data-driven early warning systems that can predict and prevent potential outbreaks before they happen.

If we move fast, we can address malaria before climate change makes it far worse. But only if we continue to innovate and invest.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support.

Sincerely,

Martin Edlund

CEO, Malaria No More

Our Work Isn’t Done

In 2022 there were…

Together, We Can End Malaria

At Malaria No More, we’re working to end the world’s oldest and deadliest disease and improve global health outcomes. See the highlights from MNM’s efforts in 2023, made possible by your partnership and support.

U.S. Resources Increase for Malaria

Malaria No More spearheaded a successful effort to secure substantial increases in funding for the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (the Global Fund) in 2023. In the final Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 omnibus bill, which sets federal spending levels, Congress provided $795 million for PMI, a $20 million increase over the FY 2022 level of $775 million, and $2 billion for the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund, $440 million over the previous year’s level of $1.56 billion. Despite unprecedented U.S. support, the Seventh Global Fund Replenishment remains underfunded. The MNM team is working to realize the highest possible levels for PMI and the Global Fund in the FY24 and FY25 Budget cycles.

Malaria Education in Zambia

The Malaria No More team organized two high level educational trips to Zambia in 2023. On the first trip, the team accompanied a group of staff from U.S. Senate offices to witness firsthand malaria prevention, control, and elimination efforts. The delegation met with community health workers and visited local sites that showcased a variety of malaria control activities, including a national bed net distribution and indoor-residual spray community roll-out. The delegation worked with the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) Zambia team, and Zambian public health officials, including the Director of the National Malaria Elimination Center. Additionally, in partnership with GR Japan, Malaria No More organized high-level meetings for a visiting delegation of Parliamentarians from Japan with key government and health partners to discuss the broader state of development and health, progress made, and challenges that remain in the region.

Forecasting Healthy Futures Host Global Summit

Amid growing concerns about the adverse effects of climate change on human health, and the implications for disease control and elimination efforts, Malaria No More’s Forecasting Healthy Futures initiative hosted its first Global Summit in Abu Dhabi in March. The Summit brought together a diverse group of nearly 200 leaders representing 140 organizations and more than 40 countries from government, private sector, NGOs, global finance institutions and higher education. The Summit’s goal was to mobilize political will and financing to deliver global health solutions in the context of climate change, and inspiring innovation and climate-adaptive health strategies ahead of COP28 in Dubai later in 2023. Summit highlights included: a welcome address from Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, a keynote address from Marina Romanello, Executive Director of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change, and the announcement of the first-ever Health Day at COP28 by His Excellency Majid Al-Suwaidi, Director General of COP28. We also had spotlight sessions on innovations ranging from water safety in India to breakthrough dengue control methods in Indonesia.

The Face of Change

Ahead of the historic, first-ever Health Day during the 28th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP28) in Dubai, Forecasting Healthy Futures—in partnership with TIME CO2—announced the launch of a bold and ambitious global campaign – The Face of Change – that centers health as the human face of climate change. With a focus on real and relatable frontline stories, proven ready-to-scale solutions, and open-source creative content (designed by brilliant Brazilian artist Lais Sambugaro) to amplify and activate the issue, the campaign aims to inspire a global movement to save millions of lives today from the direct health impacts of climate change while protecting the health of billions more by accelerating action to arrest global warming. Over the next two years, the campaign will work to build a movement that empowers global innovators, grassroots activists, and decision-makers to do, fund, demand, and be the change we need to see in the climate fight.

ClimateSmart Indonesia: Advancing Early Warning Systems for Malaria & Dengue

Forecasting Healthy Futures’ Institute for Health Modeling and Climate Solutions (IMACS) announced a groundbreaking climate and health partnership aimed at expanding the recently launched ClimateSmart Indonesia Initiative working to climate-proof Indonesian health systems. The initiative, a partnership between the government of Indonesia and Kolaborasi Riset dan Inovasi Industri AI Indonesia (KORIKA), will work to develop an advanced early warning system for malaria and dengue, to help shape evidence-driven policies, pioneer data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions, and drive comprehensive capacity-building programs. As the world’s fourth most populous country (pop. 276 million) – acutely vulnerable to climate change with its frequency of flooding, extreme heat, and increasing natural disasters – Indonesia is on the front lines of the world’s climate-driven health crisis.