Burkina Faso stops malaria research initiative backed by Bill Gates

(MENAFN) Burkina Faso has put a hold on a malaria research initiative backed by the Gates Foundation amid concerns that the program could be exploited for population control purposes in Africa.

The project, run by the Target Malaria team at the Burkinabe Institute of Health Sciences Research (IRSS), aims to genetically modify mosquitoes so they cannot transmit malaria, a disease responsible for 569,000 deaths in Africa in 2023 according to the World Health Organization. The nonprofit consortium, which also receives support from Open Philanthropy, conducts similar work in Ghana and Uganda.

Samuel Pare, Secretary-General of Burkina Faso’s Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MESRI), announced on Saturday that Target Malaria has been ordered to suspend all operations in the country.

“The facilities containing genetically modified mosquitoes have been sealed since August 18, 2025, and all samples will be destroyed according to a specified protocol,” he stated.

The ministry did not explain the rationale behind the suspension. The move follows the project’s recent announcement of a “one small-scale release” of genetically modified male mosquitoes in Souroukoudingan, a village of roughly 830 residents about 350 km southwest of Ouagadougou. Target Malaria had previously conducted similar releases in 2019 in the nearby village of Bana.

Target Malaria said it obtained approval for its activities from Burkina Faso’s National Biosafety Agency (ANB) and the National Environmental Assessment Agency (ANEVE) and has complied with local regulations since the program began in 2012.

“We have engaged actively with the national authorities and stakeholders of Burkina Faso and remain ready to cooperate,” the nonprofit said in response to the suspension.

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