Impacts of climate change on malaria vector control in Africa

Abstract

There has been extensive consideration of how climate change may impact the distribution of vector-borne diseases; with a particular focus on malaria risk in Africa. Such analyses primarily consider how the ‘malaria map’ will shift in response to changes in the environmental determinants of transmission, but rarely consider the equally if not more important question of whether climate change will impact the effectiveness of vector control measures. Here we hypothesize that the efficacy and ability to implement core vector control interventions for malaria could be significantly impacted by climate change due to direct and indirect impacts on mosquito vectors and interventions. We review current knowledge on the environmental dependency of current core interventions for malaria vector control including Insecticide Treated Nets, Indoor Residual Spraying and larviciding. We explore how anticipated changes in temperature, rainfall and humidity could impact vector ecology, behaviour and resistance mechanisms; and the knock on effects of these changes for intervention efficacy. Finally we review potential indirect impacts of climate change on the ability to finance, implement and sustain vector control; with a focus on changes in human behaviour, land use, socioeconomic conditions and health systems. We conclude by highlighting the need to build ‘climate-proof’ strategies into future vector control planning.

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