ZzappMalaria Selected as Finalist in IBM Watson XPRIZE For Helping Eradicate Malaria With AI

ZzappMalaria, the developer of a mobile-app and online system that helps eliminate malaria, has been chosen as one of only three finalists from 10,000 interested teams in the IBM Watson XPRIZE “AI for Good” challenge. ZzappMalaria has received $500,000 to continue its global fight against malaria, including a large-scale operation in Ghana and an ambitious plan to eliminate malaria from an island country, and will now compete for the $2.5M grand prize. If selected, the company will use the funds to support an extension of its operations worldwide.

Nearly half the world’s population lives in areas at risk of malaria transmission. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), malaria killed more than 400,000 people in 2019, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, and of those deaths, 67 percent were children under 5-years-old. Despite global containment efforts and technological advancement, the Malaria parasite is still very much a threat and will continue to be until containment operations are managed efficiently and effectively. ZzappMalaria’s app manages malaria elimination operations, and makes malaria eradication possible on a global scale.

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ZzappMalaria has developed an end-to-end solution that targets malaria-bearing mosquitos to ultimately eliminate the disease. The mobile app harnesses a predictive algorithm that processes satellite imagery, climate, and topography data to tailor optimal malaria-elimination interventions for given locations and ensures their thorough execution. The company leverages AI and machine learning to continuously improve its operations, recently collaborating with IBM on a system which predicts the impact of weather on mosquito populations. ZzappMalaria’s technology is adapted to work in areas without internet connectivity, and on low-cost phones common in developing nations.

“It is very gratifying to know that our technology is saving lives on a daily basis. In fact, our pilot currently protects more than 300,000 people,” said Arnon Houri-Yafin, CEO of  ZzappMalaria. “With our app, even inexperienced field workers are able to locate over 90% of the stagnant water bodies – which makes eliminating malaria possible. We’re talking elimination, not harm reduction. In many areas burdened with malaria, smartphones are the most advanced (and sometimes the only) modern technology, and ZzappMalaria’s app – which is GPS-based and works offline – is suited to work in the harshest conditions.”

ZzappMalaria is a spin-off of Israeli startup Sight Diagnostics, for which Arnon Houri-Yafin (CEO) headed research projects and was an early team member. Arnon and his team helped develop Sight’s first product, Parasight, which used AI to diagnose malaria in minutes. His experience in building Parasight laid the foundation for the development of Zzapp’s unique AI approach.

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“Since helping us launch Parasight nearly a decade ago, Arnon was inspired to create Zzapp with the goal of ultimately eradicating the disease through the use of AI,” said Yossi Pollak, CEO and co-founder of Sight Diagnostics. “Sight shares Zzapp’s vision to improve our global public health and continues to invest in Zzapp’s operation by providing financial, R&D, and field support. This recognition from IBM Watson is well-deserved and we look forward to continuing to support the team’s life-saving work.”

“It simplifies our work considerably,” says Dr. Abebe Asale from ICIPE (International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology), a leading research institution in the field of malaria. “Despite the technology’s sophistication, the app and the dashboard are very intuitive and user-friendly. In an operation in the Amhara region in 2019, we located all of the water bodies, which is usually a great challenge. Fundamentally, the technology helped us in saving time and energy. It also helped us in prioritizing severely affected villages.”

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