Required Curricular Preparation

The course begins with the “big picture.” In the lecture, Dr. Pedro L. Alonso, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Malaria Programme, offers an overview of the progress made—as well as challenges encountered—in malaria control and towards malaria elimination over the past decade. The module contextualizes these trends in WHO’s ongoing transition from promoting a ‘one-size-fits-all’ strategy to tailoring and targeting interventions according to local and regional epidemiological, environmental, and political contexts.

Only the following newly ‘refreshed’ interview segments with Professor Dyann Wirth and Dr Pedro Alonso are required: 

• Chapters 5, “Responding to Recent Changes in the Malaria Elimination Map” 
• Chapter 6, “Addressing Malaria Challenges: From R&D to Human Resource Capacity Building”
• Chapter 7, “Rethinking Malaria to Achieve the Global Goal of Malaria Elimination.”  

This module provides foundational scientific knowledge for the course, including important biological aspects of the malaria parasite, the mosquito vector, and the human host. In this module’s lecture, Professor Dyann F. Wirth begins with a brief overview of how malaria came to be understood, then goes into detail on the parasite’s life cycle, how malaria affects humans, and the existing and sought-after tools to prevent and treat malaria. Finally, Professor Wirth reviews global endeavors to eradicate malaria.

In this module, Professor Manoj Duraisingh offers a deeper look at Plasmodium vivax, the most geographically widespread malaria parasite, and compares the biological differences between Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. Information on current gaps in Plasmodium vivax biology, ecology, and epidemiology is offered. Learners will also gain insights regarding the difficulties in controlling Plasmodium vivax and possible solutions for the elimination of the parasite.

This module focuses on the Anopheles mosquitoes, which are the vectors that transmit malaria to humans. Professor Flaminia Catteruccia discusses biological and anatomical features of mosquitoes that influence how the parasite is acquired from humans, develops in the mosquito, and is transmitted back to humans. Professor Catteruccia then discusses how current vector control strategies work, why they fail, and how an improved understanding of vector biology can lead to improved vector and parasite control strategies.

In this module, the course’s focus shifts from the microscopic genes to a more global perspective. Using a systemic view of malaria, the module describes human and environmental factors that influence how malaria is manifested and how control efforts work. Professor Marcia Castro discusses various components of global ‘systems’ that enable the continued existence of malaria and presents historical examples that exemplify the importance of these components. Professor Castro also describes the challenges and opportunities in the struggle to eradicate malaria that these human and environmental factors create.

This module discusses disease surveillance, a health system function essential to malaria elimination. Surveillance—identifying where and when the transmission of infectious diseases occurs—is critical for targeting public health actions. In the lecture, Professor Marcel Tanner (Swiss TPH) provides an in-depth examination of how to use monitoring and evaluation, surveillance-response, and data analysis effectively for malaria control and elimination. Using case studies from Zambia, China, the Pacific Islands, and Tanzania, the module offers practical guidance on developing surveillance-response approaches and discusses how surveillance systems can be incorporated into public health programs.

In this module, Dr. Abdisalan Noor focuses on the analysis and use of malaria-related data to inform national and subnational strategic plans for malaria elimination, intervention targeting, and prioritization of resources. Learners will be introduced to concepts and metrics for malaria stratification, including the strengths and weaknesses of commonly used metrics for stratification. The module also discusses how stratification for elimination allows for focused, tailored responses by assigning specific intervention packages and deploying strategies to designated areas.

Mathematical models of malaria have been used for more than 100 years as a tool to facilitate the understanding of malaria transmission dynamics. In the final module, Professor Melissa Penny (Swiss TPH) reviews the basis of modeling transmission and the current state of modeling strategies for malaria. Modeling elimination feasibility, different elimination strategies with mixed interventions in different transmission settings, and modeling the economics of elimination strategies will be discussed. Learners will gain insights into the potential impact and principles of applied modeling for public health action toward disease elimination.