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Many of us living in Africa remember our first encounter with malaria with striking clarity. Mine was when I was about nine years old, as a primary school pupil in Kisumu, western Kenya. That morning began with a slight discomfort, but it quickly worsened after arriving at school. A high fever set in, accompanied by overwhelming drowsiness, and weakness that made it impossible to sit upright. I remember lying on my desk, then rushing out of class to vomit. I was allowed to leave school early, but the 20 to 30 minute walk home felt endless. I had to stop several times to rest, sitting or lying on benches and patches of grass, shivering and nauseated. Eventually, a kind stranger noticed my condition and helped me get home, where I was rushed to hospital. My family and I remain grateful to that good samaritan woman, whose timely help may have prevented a far worse outcome.
Malaria remains one of the most persistent public health challenges in the world. Recent estimates by the World Health Organization indicate around 249 million cases and over 600,000 deaths globally, with Africa accounting for approximately 94% of the burden. The disease disproportionately affects children under five and pregnant women, while also undermining productivity, economic growth, and resilience in communities.
As the global community marks World Malaria Day, commemorated annually on 25 April, the 2026 theme, “Driven to End Malaria: Now We Can. Now We Must,” envisions malaria-free communities. The theme is both a message of hope and a call to urgency to accelerate progress by investing in solutions that are effective, locally grounded, sustainable, and scalable.
At BioInnovate Africa, we recognise that addressing malaria requires more than conventional approaches. It calls for innovative, locally relevant, and sustainable solutions that harness Africa’s rich biodiversity and scientific expertise. One such promising innovation is the BioInnovate Africa supported project, SUPPACT, which is developing biobased supplements to Artemisinin-based combination therapy for malaria treatment. The project explores plant-based compounds that can both prevent and treat malaria, offering a response to the growing challenge of drug resistance reported in Eastern Africa. The project is led by the Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda, with partners including the University of Bahr El Ghazal in South Sudan, Université Officielle de Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Jena Herbals Limited, Uganda. The SUPPACT solution is currently at the clinical trials stage and, if successful, will deliver an affordable, natural, and effective product for malaria control and elimination.
In the podcast episode below, Prof. Patrick Ogwang, the co-Principal Investigator of the project and Managing Director of Jena Herbals Limited, shares insights on the SUPPACT product, which integrates traditional knowledge with modern science. This approach is particularly relevant in Africa, where biodiversity is abundant yet underutilised, and where homegrown solutions can play a transformative role in ending malaria.
