October 21, 2026
What’s Next for the Global Malaria Response? Takeaways from Expert Convening on Capitol Hill
By Aria Vyas
The fight against malaria is entering a remarkable, and precarious, new era.
New vaccines, medicines, vector-control approaches, prevention tools and surveillance technologies are emerging, and innovation is moving at a faster pace than ever before–with more breakthroughs in the malaria response developing over the last 18 months than in the last 30 years.
But the epidemic is changing too. Mosquitoes are adapting, drug and insecticide resistance are spreading, climate change and conflict are reshaping transmission patterns, and funding cuts and changes to surveillance systems could conspire to produce a resurgence of malaria if we are not careful—even as new tools offer unprecedented opportunity to advance progress.
Experts have noted reports of malaria returning to regions that previously eliminated the disease, including the United States. In 2023, states like Florida, Texas and Maryland reported cases of locally transmitted malaria for the first time in over 20 years. And just this summer, a mosquito carrying malaria was reported to have found its way onto an airplane, resulting in the death of two airport workers in Frankfurt, Germany.
Against this backdrop, malaria researchers, implementers, advocates, policymakers, funders, innovators and private sector leaders gathered in Washington, D.C., on September 17 to consider the future of the global malaria response.
Hosted by Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Malaria No More, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the George W. Bush Institute, the Global Health Technologies Coalition, Kyle House Group, ONE Campaign and United to Beat Malaria, the convening examined epidemiological and scientific trends, emerging innovations, the transition to country leadership and financing.
There is no silver bullet
Innovation in the fight against malaria is advancing at an incredible rate. Bed nets have transformed malaria prevention, medicines like ACTs have saved millions of lives and vaccines now offer another powerful layer of protection. Still, no one intervention can end the malaria epidemic on its own. Throughout the convening, participants returned to the “Swiss Cheese Model” to understand the malaria response. Like slices of Swiss cheese, every intervention on its own has holes but if strategically layered together, each slice can help fill gaps left by others.
Participants also discussed new and emerging innovations including long-acting injectable prevention, next-generation mosquito nets, new vaccines and medicines, genetically engineered mosquitoes, insecticide-treated baby wraps and AI-fueled technologies for monitoring mosquito populations and identifying areas at risk. The next phase of the fight against malaria will need to determine and deploy the right combination of tools for each local context, adapting its approach to stay ahead of a continuously evolving target.
Better data is essential to smarter, more country-led responses
Malaria is not one single epidemic. The right intervention in one country or even one district may not be the right intervention somewhere else. Programs need timely information about where transmission is changing, which mosquito species are present, where medicines or insecticides may be losing effectiveness and which interventions are having the greatest impact. Those differences are not always visible in national averages, but they are critical to shaping effective local and regional responses.
As global health financing, disease surveillance and data systems change, the U.S. government will need to protect the quality and continuity of disease surveillance and information sharing. Without this, countries risk flying blind, unable to identify, map or get ahead of evolving outbreaks. Participants discussed how digital tools and artificial intelligence could help process information faster and identify patterns earlier, including monitoring systems that combine environmental and entomological data to identify areas of emerging risk.
At the same time, countries need people, analytical capacity and systems to interpret that information and turn it into decisions. Sustained investment in community health workers, local partners and civil society organizations remains essential as they play critical roles, providing information and insight that centralized systems may miss.
This is particularly important as countries take greater responsibility for managing their malaria responses. Successful transitions will require sustained investment in the less visible infrastructure that makes malaria programs work: surveillance, community health systems, supply chains, technical expertise and strong institutions. Country ownership is not simply about shifting responsibility. It means ensuring countries have the capacity to understand their own epidemics, determine which tools they need and respond as conditions change.
Innovation only matters if it can reach people
Throughout the convening, discussions about innovation repeatedly returned to the systems surrounding it: regulatory pathways, manufacturing capacity, market incentives, procurement, financing and delivery. Participants emphasized that procurement systems focused primarily on the lowest immediate price can undercut future investment in innovation. Manufacturers need clearer market signals, greater predictability and visibility into future demand. There are also opportunities to strengthen research and manufacturing ecosystems in African countries, while ensuring that countries themselves can determine which technologies and approaches best meet their needs.
Underlying all of this is financing. Global resources for malaria remain far below what is needed, even as countries are being asked to assume greater responsibility for their health programs. Participants discussed a range of approaches, including greater domestic investment, philanthropy, blended finance and stronger coordination between ministries of health and finance.
Successful transitions must also account for countries’ fiscal space and institutional capacity. As countries transition to financing and delivering their malaria programs, international partners will need to carefully manage the pace and sequencing of changes to avoid creating gaps in essential services.
Accountability will remain important as implementation models change. Effective monitoring, supply-chain visibility and independent oversight is needed to help ensure that limited resources reach their intended destination and that progress is sustained as programs transition.
And ultimately, none of these approaches eliminate the need for continued U.S. and international investment. Partnerships with multilateral organizations like the Global Fund and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance can help countries navigate these challenges while improving efficiency, strengthening procurement and supply chains and using digital tools to better track resources and results.
As the world’s largest international funder of malaria programs, the Global Fund plays an indispensable role in financing the tools, services and health systems needed to fight the disease; its 2026 Results Report offers a reminder of what sustained investment and partnership can accomplish. In 2025 alone, countries where the Global Fund invests distributed 196 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets, tested 367 million suspected malaria cases and treated 167 million cases.
The malaria community has more tools and possibilities than it has had in decades. Making the most of them will require moving quickly and strategically: deploying the right combination of interventions, strengthening the systems needed to deliver them, committing adequate funding, and supporting countries in making aid transition successful while keeping the progress.
Aria Vyas is the associate director of communications at Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; Aria received a Master of Public Health from the University of Pennsylvania.