Biography Charles Mbogo – PhD. Charles is a public health entomologist with over 20 years’ experience in the conduct of entomological studies in Kenya, Ethiopia and Eritrea. Dr. Mbogo is a Chief Research Scientist and the current Director for the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), Centre for Geographic Medicine and the Wellcome Trust Research Program in Kilifi on the Kenya Coast. He received a Ph. D degree in Medical entomology from the University of Nairobi in 1994. His research interests include the ecology and behaviour of mosquitoes and other arthropods, transmission dynamics and control of vector-borne diseases, vector-parasite interactions, and development of new vector control. He has worked on the large-scale evaluation of insecticide-treated bednets, insecticide resistance, and integrated vector management (IVM) strategies. His research program also involves understanding the relationships between Plasmodium falciparum transmission by vector population and the incidence of severe malaria on the Kenyan coast and identifying vectorrelated risk factors of severe disease. The long-term goal is to establish a foundation for designing and implementing novel malaria strategies targeting anopheline vector. The main question is “how can we explore the ecology and behavior of arthropods as disease vectors?” He has developed and implemented vector surveillance systems at local and national scales in the Eastern Africa region. He serves on various national and international technical committees. He maintains a keen interest in translating research into policy and practice and played an important role in the formulation of Kenya national policy on IVM. He is the current President of the Pan African Mosquito Control Association (PAMCA), an association of African entomology professionals dedicated to Improving human health through suppression of mosquitoes and mosquito borne diseases. Summary of presentation Integrated malaria vector control in Africa: challenges and opportunities in the malaria elimination era The control of vector-borne diseases represents one of the greatest global public health challenges of the 21st century. Malaria and other vector-borne diseases contribute substantially to the global burden of diseases and disproportionately affect poor and under-served populations living in tropical and sub-tropical regions. In the absence of effective control, these diseases have a major impact on public health and socio-economic development. The standard chemical, biological and physical control measures used to kill mosquitoes and other insects vectors, as well as active and passive case-detection and treatment of human infection, have a long and proven track-record of saving lives. However, the potential benefits of integrating vector control strategies into national health and community systems have not been fully realized, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is a preventable disease yet it continues to command a morbidity of more than 30% of the total number of malaria cases reported in Africa. Nevertheless, malaria vector control has the potential to be made more efficient, effective and ecologically sound. This could be achieved through a combination of approaches: having decisions increasingly based on local evidence; using a range of interventions; considering multiple diseases; and harnessing the existing systems and local human resource including community participation. These approaches are central to Integrated Vector Management (IVM).