A local university will play a major role in squashing malaria cases worldwide.

The federal government has awarded The Columbia School of Public Health in Washington Heights a 25 million dollar grant.

The school plans to use the money to help Ethiopian health centers detect, diagnose and treat malaria.

"Most of us think that, that, Malaria is a disease from the 1930, 40s, and 50s but it's still around and it impacts over a million people in Ethiopia and in the sub Saharan area of Africa. So this is a great help that goes to that region," said Congressman Adriano Espaillat.

According to the World Health Organization, nearly half of the world's population is at risk of malaria.

The disease killed an estimated 429,000 people in 2015.