TED2024, a hallmark event celebrating 40 years of innovation, ingenuity, creativity, courage, and generosity, taking place in Vancouver, Canada from 15-19 April, will feature Africa’s esteemed, and leading champion against malaria, Prof. Abdoulaye Diabaté as a speaker. In his Talk, titled “How to End Malaria”, Prof. Diabaté aims to catalyse transformative change in global health.
Hailing from Burkina Faso, Prof. Diabaté is Head of Medical Entomology and Parasitology at the Research Institute in Health Sciences (Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé – IRSS), in Bobo-Dioulasso.
His acclaimed research work as Principal Investigator of Target Malaria Burkina Faso has earned him global recognition, including prestigious speaking engagements at Harvard University, interviews by several prestigious international and national media, including the CNN, BBC, Netflix, The New York Times, the National TV channels of Burkina Faso.
Prof. Diabaté was recently honoured as one of the 10 global winners of the esteemed Falling Walls Science & Innovation Prize 2023. This recognition underscores his pioneering efforts in eradicating malaria through innovative gene drive mosquito technology, which holds the promise of being a self-sustaining and cost-effective method to reduce the population of malaria mosquitoes – offering hope to millions worldwide.
Malaria, a relentless scourge claiming a child’s life every minute, exacts a devastating toll, with over 600,000 deaths and 200 million cases annually, primarily affecting African communities, especially children and pregnant women. The social and economic costs of the illness are overwhelming, estimated at $12 billion a year in Africa alone. Africa bears the highest burden of preventable diseases but has the lowest technology development, and impact on global health research. Prof Diabaté plans to change this.
At TED2024, Prof. Diabaté will highlight Target Malaria’s innovative approach, emphasising collaboration and African voices’ centrality in the fight against malaria. This event underscores the role of developing domestic expertise and international collective determination to confront one of humanity’s greatest challenges.
As the TED community converges in Vancouver next week, Prof. Diabaté’s impassioned call to action promises to inspire and galvanise global efforts towards malaria eradication.
About Target Malaria:
Target Malaria is a not-for-profit research consortium that aims to develop and share new, cost-effective and sustainable genetic technologies to modify mosquitoes and reduce malaria transmission. Our vision is to contribute to a world free of malaria. We aim to achieve excellence in all areas of our work, creating a path for responsible research and development of genetic technologies, such as gene drive. www.targetmalaria.org
Target Malaria receives core funding by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Open Philanthropy. The lead grantee organisation is Imperial College London with partners in Africa, Europe and North America.
About TED:
TED is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to discovering, debating and spreading ideas that spark conversation, deepen understanding and drive meaningful change. Our organization is devoted to curiosity, reason, wonder and the pursuit of knowledge — without an agenda. We welcome people from every discipline and culture who seek a deeper understanding of the world and connection with others, and we invite everyone to engage with ideas and activate them in your community. Our aim is to help create a future worth pursuing for all.
TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, but today it spans a multitude of worldwide communities and initiatives exploring everything from science and business to education, arts and global issues. In addition to the hundreds of TED Talks curated from our annual conferences and published on TED.com, we produce original podcasts, short video series, animated educational lessons (TED-Ed) and TV programs that are translated into more than 100 languages and distributed via partnerships around the world. Each year, more than 3,000 independently run TEDx eventsbring people together to share ideas and bridge divides in communities on every continent. Through the Audacious Project, TED has helped catalyze more than $3 billion in funding for projects that seek to make the world more beautiful, sustainable and just. In 2020, TED launched Countdown, an initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis and mobilize a movement for a net-zero future. View a full list of TED’s many programs and initiatives.
