World Malaria Day (April 25) raises awareness of a leading cause of child mortality worldwide and a mosquito-borne disease that kills around 500,000 people per year.

Professor Peter Gething, from Curtin University’s School of Population Health and the Kids Research Institute Australia, is a world leader in malaria research and his team is committed to permanently eradicating malaria from the world. Alongside senior researcher Dr Susan Rumisha, from Ifakara Health Institute, Professor Gething co-heads the Malaria Atlas Project, an international collaboration providing expert geospatial analysis on global malaria epidemiology and control. His group is also the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Geospatial Modelling, which helps inform and guide the global malaria public health response.

In a recent paper published by Associate Professor Daniel Weiss from Curtin University and The Kids Research Institute Australia in The Lancet, the team has detailed the most comprehensive and current maps of p.falciparum and p.vivax malaria, offering vital clues in the global battle to eradicate malaria. Their research includes global high-resolution maps of malaria prevalence, incidence and mortality, which are crucial for tracking localised progress against the disease and informing strategic malaria control efforts.

The team’s commitment to this complex ancient disease is arguably more important than ever as the global community stands at a crossroads in its fight due to the evolution of resistance in both mosquitoes and malaria parasites, an expected decline in international aid, and climate change impacts.

This World Malaria Day, Professor Gething and his team remain committed to supporting this global fight by working with its national and international partners to provide modern analytics that track the global status of the disease, monitor how and where control efforts are working and identify those populations most at risk.

Congratulations to the MAP team on its recent publication in The Lancet and its continued impact to translate research directly into more cases averted, more lives saved, and more progress towards the ultimate end goal of eradicating this life-threatening disease.