The African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN) has called for renewed investment in science, community action, and accurate health communication to sustain progress against mosquito-borne diseases.

In a statement issued by the Executive Secretary of AMMREN, Dr Charity Binka, and copied to the GNA, to mark World Mosquito Day 2026, she said that while scientific advances, including malaria vaccines and improved vector-control tools, offered new hope, emerging threats were putting millions of people across Africa at risk.

Citing World Health Organization data, the executive secretary noted that the African Region accounted for 94 percent of global malaria cases and 95 percent of malaria deaths in 2024, with children under five remaining the most affected.

She said mosquitoes also transmit other diseases such as dengue, yellow fever, and chikungunya, making vector control critical to public health.

She said AMMREN identified insecticide resistance, changing climatic conditions, and the spread of invasive mosquito species as new challenges facing disease-control programmes.

“AMMREN notes that mosquito-borne diseases cannot be treated as yesterday’s problem. While science and innovation continue to provide new tools for prevention and control, the threats are also changing,” she said.

The executive secretary called for action in three key areas: sustaining investment in science and innovation to strengthen surveillance; putting communities at the centre of prevention; and strengthening health communication with accurate, evidence-based information.

Dr Binka said, "We must keep the science moving, but we must also ensure that people are not left behind. Accurate information is a powerful tool for malaria prevention.”

She urged African countries to protect gains made in the fight against malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases, embrace new solutions, and ensure that no community was left behind.