SAN FRANCISCO — The news that progress in the fight against malaria has stalled signals the need for a new strategy, according to Bill Gates — and data and surveillance should be at the heart of it.
“I view data as the lifeblood of how we’re going to be smarter,” he said at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Malaria Summit in London on Wednesday, where he announced commitments including $1 billion for research and development efforts to end malaria.
Gates emphasized the importance of leveraging data in making continued progress against the disease — from the geographical detail made possible by technologies such as mobile phones and satellites, to the genetic sequencing of geolocated mosquito and parasite samples.