Chancellor George Osborne is joining forces with Microsoft founder Bill Gates in the fight against malaria by pledging £2.5bn to eradicate the killer disease within decades.

The pair will outline their hopes as they travel to Liverpool today to see groundbreaking research into the tropical infection, which is mainly spread by mosquitoes and is believed to kill one child a minute.

Some £500m a year will be allocated from Britain’s international development budget while the Gates Foundation will spend £140m a year on research.

Writing in The Times, the pair insisted that “problems such as hunger and disease aren’t insoluble”.

They wrote: “We are optimistic that in our lifetimes we can eradicate malaria and other deadly tropical diseases, and confront emerging threats, making the world a safer place for all.