The bed-net research that saved millions: The Gambia collects the Edinburgh Prize

Some experiments echo for decades. The Gambia's Ministry of Health and the MRC Unit The Gambia have received the 2026 Edinburgh Prize for Global Health Impact, honouring research that helped establish insecticide-treated bed nets as one of the great weapons against malaria. A landmark 1991 study published in The Lancet, rooted in Gambian fieldwork, showed the nets cut deaths among children under five by 63% and malaria-specific deaths by 70% — evidence that turned a simple net into global policy. Health Minister Dr Ahmadou Samateh and Professor Umberto D'Alessandro of the MRC Unit received the award. 'The evidence generated through research conducted in The Gambia has contributed to saving millions of lives in Africa and beyond,' D'Alessandro said.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: institutional program