Mobile Malaria Project

DB Schenker is currently supporting Jaguar Land Rover in the fight against the disease malaria, which kills about 400,000 people every year, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. 

DB Schenker transports a modified Land Rover Discovery, engineered especially for this project, from London to Walvis Bay, Namibia, inside an ocean freight container. Upon arrival, the car embarks on a 6,300 kilometer tour of Africa. The vehicle is navigated by a team of research scientists, aided by the address system what3words which DB Schenker recently integrated into its eSchenker portal.

Ready for the trip: DB Schenker transports a Land Rover Discovery by sea from the UK to Namibia in support of the “Mobile Malaria Project”.

“As a company, we are aware of our social responsibility and are convinced that the long-term success of a company depends on a sustainable world. Through our participation in the “Mobile Malaria Project” we want to make a small contribution to supporting the work of the research team in the fight against malaria.” Katharina Hibbeln, Program Manager Sustainability at Schenker AG

The scientists’ road trip is organized under the slogan “RGS Land Rover Bursary”, as part of which Jaguar Land Rover and the Royal Geographical Society jointly sponsor a project each year, both in terms of funding and through the loan of a vehicle. The Land Rover Discovery is also equipped with a mobile genetic sequencing laboratory, enabling the expedition team to train local scientists to perform DNA sequencing of mosquitoes and malaria parasites.

The aim of the “Mobile Malaria Project” is to intensify public awareness of the challenges of infectious disease control and to ultimately boost the chances of eradicating malaria once and for all. New approaches are very much needed in this effort, given that the gradual reduction in the incidence of the disease achieved over two decades has been stagnating since about 2015.