Our Goal: To Eradicate Malaria Through Drones & AI

Malaria infects approximately 200 million people annually costing US$ 5 billion for control measures. Until now, the primary measure used to avoid mosquito bites was nets as bites often occurred indoors. However, mosquitoes that bite people outdoors have risen in Africa. Therefore, an outdoor malaria control measure that seeks to eliminate mosquito larvae before reaching adulthood is necessary.

Further, we must not overlook the fact that the habitat of malaria-carrying mosquitoes is expanding due to the effects of global warming. Hence, malaria is not only a problem in developing countries, but has become a problem close to our hearts.

One method of malaria control is called Larval Source Management (LSM). This method involves spraying insecticides on larvae found in puddles

SORA Technology aims to eradicate malaria by combining drones and artificial intelligence (AI) to perform LSM more efficiently.

Group photo taken with local students in Sierra Leone (2023).

Within the 3,500+ species of mosquitoes in the world, only a handful suck human blood. Typical examples of mosquito-borne infectious diseases are Zika fever, dengue fever, and malaria. Regarding malaria, it is spread through the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito, which is the only species that transmits this disease.

Mosquito behavior is characterized by their preference for various types of waterbodies that differ across species.  At SORA Technology we fly drones over various puddles, and use AI to efficiently plot puddles that would be preferred by the malaria transmitting mosquitoes (the Anopheles mosquito) based on factors such as water depth, water temperature, etc.  This AI-driven approach allows efficient identification of potentially dangerous puddles, of which then can be sprayed with insecticide. 

Explanation of a fixed-wing drone in Sierra Leone during a proof-of-concept experiment (2023)

Although LSM is one of the WHO's highly recognized effective tools for malaria control, it has required a tremendous amount of human labor and wasted insecticides that are sprayed on unnecessary areas. However, by implementing SORA Technology's LSM, the amount of insecticide sprayed can be reduced by approximately 70%, and labor costs associated with spraying can be cut by approximately 50%. This not only reduces the environmental and monetary impact, but also increases efficiency.

Measuring a puddle’s various factors in Ghana during a proof-of-concept experiment(2023)

With the cooperation of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), we are working on the implementation of SORA Technology's LSM in Sierra Leone as well as other regions in West Africa. In line with discussions with each country’s government agencies, we are building a local system to be implemented in the near future.

The United Nations (U.N.) has set a goal of significantly reducing the number of people infected with malaria by 2030. In accordance with this, SORA Technology will contribute to the UN's goal by combining LSM with our AI technology via drones. Furthermore, we plan to establish a base in Africa to promote cross-sectoral efforts to eradicate malaria.

SORA Technology aims to contribute to the 2030 malaria elimination goal by utilizing drones and AI. Given the context of COVID-19, we hope to use drones and AI in working toward innovative solutions. Simultaneously, we recognize the challenge in attaining the understanding of local governments and other ministerial agenices when dealing with new innovations. For this, we aim to play a role (together with the Japanese government, domestic, and international companies) in overcoming this wall to build a world where all nations are resistant to infectious diseases. 

Masaki Umeda