This blog was originally published on the APMEN website.
On 18 August 2026, the APMEN Vector Control Working Group, in collaboration with the Outreach Network for Gene Drive Research and Malaria Consortium, convened a special World Mosquito Day webinar that explored the future of mosquito vector control. The webinar brought together over 700 professionals from 69 countries, including experts, national programme representatives, researchers, implementers and public health professionals to examine how emerging tools and partnerships can strengthen the future of malaria and mosquito-borne disease control.
Looking beyond the current vector control toolbox
As we look to accelerate progress towards malaria elimination, we need to to consider new tools and approaches that complement existing prevention and control measures. Insecticide-treated nets — a mainstay of malaria prevention — and indoor residual spraying have delivered major gains in recent decades but are predominantly intended for indoor use, which means they do not offer protections outdoors, such as for workers. Persistent challenges, including insecticide resistance, outdoor transmission and changing mosquito behaviour demand new solutions.
Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn
“The development of insecticide resistance has been the single biggest reason why malaria burden reduction has reached a plateau since 2015. This has increased the need for stronger entomological capacity, better understanding of local transmission patterns and more locally relevant solutions,” said Professor Leo Braack, Senior Vector Control Specialist at Malaria Consortium Asia and Co-Chair of the APMEN Vector Control Working Group.
Yet we’ve seen the rise of several promising approaches that could help address these gaps and shape the next generation of mosquito vector control.
- Spatial emanators
A new class of vector control products, spatial emanators work by passively releasing chemicals to reduce mosquito density and protect indoor spaces. Professor Neil Lobo, Research Professor at the University of Notre Dame and at the University of California, San Francisco, explained that although these tools could complement mosquito nets and indoor residual spraying, further evidence is still needed on outdoor use, standalone effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. It’s essential to combine tools with targeted surveillance rather than relying on a single intervention.
- Endectocides
Endectocides, such as ivermectin, make the blood of treated people or domestic stock toxic to mosquitoes. In this way, they target vectors that continue to transmit malaria despite existing interventions. University of Navarra Adjunct Professor Carlos Chaccour highlighted findings from the BOHEMIA trial in Kenya, which demonstrated a 26 percent reduction in malaria incidence on top of high mosquito-net coverage, while also discussing opportunities to treat livestock and develop longer-lasting formulations.
- Gene drive technology
A more controversial solution, gene drive technology, could achieve population-level malaria vector control. Using CRISPR-Cas9, a powerful biological tool that functions like a molecular ‘cut and paste’ system to edit genes inside living cells, gene drives can bias inheritance and spread engineered traits through mosquito populations, creating possibilities to modify or suppress a mosquito population.
Yet, as Professor Jackson Champer, faculty member at the School of Life Sciences at Peking University and the Center for Life Sciences, emphasised, “Gene drives remain an emerging technology, with important questions around resistance, species specificity, ecological considerations and the absence of field testing”.
- Wolbachia
A naturally occurring bacterium, Wolbachia can reduce the ability of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to transmit diseases such as dengue. Professor Claudia Surjadjaja, Associate Professor at Unika Soegijopranata and Director, Advocacy and External Relations-Asia at the World Mosquito Program, highlighted experience from programmes now active across 16 countries and underscored a critical lesson for innovation: “Scientific evidence is only one part of success. Regulation, financing, production capacity and community ownership are equally important for implementation at scale,” she said.
From promising technologies to practical solutions
Now, an important question remains: beyond these individual technologies, who will build the future of vector control?
Dr Muhammad Mukhtar, Director of Pakistan’s Directorate of Malaria Control and Chair of the APMEN Vector Control Working Group, proposed a three-actor partnership model in which national programmes define unmet needs, academia generates evidence and industry delivers innovation. He stressed that current tools remain largely focused on indoor transmission, while important gaps persist outdoors and during early evening transmission. Building partnerships now will be essential if future vector control innovations are to reach the communities that need them.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
One of the clearest themes was that innovation should not mean abandoning proven interventions. Existing tools such as insecticide-treated nets and indoor residual spraying remain essential, but they are no longer sufficient on their own to address an evolving malaria transmission landscape.
The future of vector control will require intelligent combinations of existing and emerging tools, guided by local evidence, surveillance, cost-effectiveness, implementation capacity and community engagement.
A global community connected through APMEN TechTalks
On World Mosquito Day, the message from this global conversation was clear: the future of vector control will depend on how well countries and partners combine science, innovation, surveillance, implementation, financing and community engagement to close the gaps that remain.
APMEN will continue to provide a platform where countries, researchers, technical experts and partners can learn from one another, share practical experience and translate emerging evidence into action.
Watch the full APMEN TechTalks webinar on YouTube.
The APMEN TechTalks series focuses on technical themes across APMEN Working Groups and Interest Groups, facilitating knowledge exchange and sharing insights from research, implementation, updated guidance and field experience.