Source: LinkedIn article by Bill Gates • Date: August 26, 2025
For much of U.S. history—especially in the South—malaria was a seasonal threat that shaped daily life. Bill Gates revisits how America confronted the disease at scale and how those efforts helped lay the groundwork for today’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The story traces early misconceptions, the mosquito discovery, and a whole-of-society response that combined infrastructure, medicine, and public engagement.
From the New Deal’s Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) projects that drained breeding sites, to the wartime Office of Malaria Control in War Areas (Atlanta, 1942)—which evolved into the CDC in 1947—the campaign mixed environmental control, insecticides, and mass treatment to break transmission. By 1951, the U.S. declared malaria eliminated.
Key Takeaways & Why It Matters Now
- Big-system approach works: Coordinated, well-funded efforts (TVA, federal programs) tackled mosquitoes and human infection simultaneously.
- Tools then vs. now: Past reliance on widespread DDT spraying and quinine/chloroquine has given way to safer, targeted tools—insecticide-treated nets, indoor residual spraying, sugar baits, and research toward gene drive approaches.
- Modern treatment & prevention: ACTs (artemisinin-based combinations), tafenoquine for relapsing strains, seasonal chemoprevention, and the first malaria vaccines expand today’s toolbox.
- Context matters: The U.S. benefitted from less efficient vectors, seasonal transmission, and stronger infrastructure. Endemic regions today face year-round transmission and tougher conditions—requiring sustained investment.
- The goal is achievable: The strategy remains the same—stop transmission, clear infections, and build resilient health systems. With current innovations, global progress is possible.
💡 Editorial note: We’re sharing this summary to spotlight how historical public-health playbooks inform modern malaria control—and why sustained innovation and financing remain critical worldwide.
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