The UK government is to create a new £1bn fund aimed at eradicating malaria and other infectious diseases.
The Ross Fund will be run in partnership with US philanthropists, Bill and Melinda Gates.
It is named after Sir Ronald Ross who became Britain's first Nobel Prize winner in 1902 for his discovery that malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes.
The number of people dying from malaria is falling but a child still dies from the disease every minute in Africa.
Ministers say the partnership with the Microsoft founder and his wife Melinda marks a "fundamental restructuring" of the UK's aid budget.
The £1bn will come from the UK's overseas aid budget over the next five years.
UK Chancellor George Osborne said one billion people were infected with malaria and 500,000 children die from the disease each year.
He said the government's commitment to overseas aid helps to "promote our national security and interests around the world".
Working with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will help us in "our joint ambition to see an end to this global disease in our lifetimes", he added.
Mr Gates, co-chairman of the foundation, said eradicating malaria and other poverty-related infectious diseases would be "one of humanity's greatest achievements," according to media reports. -amh
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