George Osborne has joined forces with Bill Gates as they outlined their vision to "make malaria no more".
The Chancellor has pledged a new UK commitment of £2.5 billion over the next five years to help the world accelerate the fight against malaria - aiming to help cut cases and deaths by another 40% by 2020, setting us on track for our ultimate goal of eliminating the disease.
Welcoming the news, Winchester & Chandler's Ford MP Steve Brine said: "This announcement will see the UK sustain its support for malaria at the current £500 million per annum through the course of this parliament. Together with Bill Gates' complementary commitment to malaria research and development worth $200M over the same time period, these joint commitments will be worth a total of £3 billion to the global malaria campaign."
George Osborne said: "Across the globe over a billion people are infected with malaria and it's a cause of both untold misery and lost economic potential. That's why, working with Bill Gates, I'm determined that Britain leads the world in the fight against this disease. Already we've made great progress. Now, together with the Gates Foundation we are announcing £3bn over the next five years to start the work on eradicating malaria altogether."
The Chancellor made the UK announcement alongside Bill Gates and International Development Secretary Justine Greening at the Liverpool School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Together they were reviewing some of the UK's most exciting and pioneering innovations to fight against infectious diseases.  Malaria remains one of the world's most deadly diseases and, despite huge progress, still claims the life of a child every two minutes.
Steve Brine continued: "The new funds will be invested by DFID, as per the UK's current malaria commitment, through a combination of multilateral, bilateral and R&D support. They will include the malaria components of the new Ross Fund as well as the malaria portion of the UK's anticipated new commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria to be announced later this year."
Bill Gates praised DFID's work and the UK's leadership in fighting deadly diseases like malaria, saying: "From the strength of its scientific community, to the bravery of the ordinary men and women who go out to fight these diseases, the UK's commitment to global health is building healthier futures for people living in the world's poorest places and making the world a safer place for all of us."