The World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have launched a new initiative to boost the use of environmentally friendly, sustainable alternatives to the toxic chemical DDT, used to control malaria.

WHO estimates that every year malaria kills about a million people worldwide, more than 90% of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa, and causes around 300 million cases of acute illness every year, three quarters in children.

The initiative, backed by nearly $40m (£27m; €30m) in funding from the Global Environmental Facility, a partnership of international institutions, non-governmental organisations, and the private sector, foresees the introduction of 10 projects in about 40 nations in Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, Asia, and the Pacific. These projects aim to build on the successful results …