JPhillips
10-19-2011, 02:10 PM
Kudos to Bill Gates. Jobs may have been a greater visionary, but Gates' charity work will cement his reputation. A malaria vaccine would be one of the great human accomplishments.
The first vaccine against malaria has proved partially effective at protecting children, according to results published Tuesday, providing hope against a killer that is a scourge in the developing world.
Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, who helped fund the research, called it a "huge milestone" and said the vaccine could be ready by 2015 if further study results are positive.
Three doses of the vaccine cut roughly in half the risk of developing malaria in children five months to 17 months old, according to interim results of a clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine and highlighted by Mr. Gates at a gathering here of malaria scientists and policy makers.
The researchers said additional data from the study are needed to declare the vaccine effective.
Malaria, which is spread by mosquitoes, killed an estimated 781,000 people world-wide in 2009, down from 985,000 deaths in 2000, according to the World Health Organization. Yet the disease—a killer for centuries—remains endemic in many poor nations, particularly in Africa, where it is blamed in part for holding down economic growth.
Four years ago, Mr. Gates and his wife, Melinda, stunned the health-care community by setting malaria eradication as their ultimate goal, a target many thought unobtainable. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation so far has invested $1.75 billion in combating the disease.
The first vaccine against malaria has proved partially effective at protecting children, according to results published Tuesday, providing hope against a killer that is a scourge in the developing world.
Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, who helped fund the research, called it a "huge milestone" and said the vaccine could be ready by 2015 if further study results are positive.
Three doses of the vaccine cut roughly in half the risk of developing malaria in children five months to 17 months old, according to interim results of a clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine and highlighted by Mr. Gates at a gathering here of malaria scientists and policy makers.
The researchers said additional data from the study are needed to declare the vaccine effective.
Malaria, which is spread by mosquitoes, killed an estimated 781,000 people world-wide in 2009, down from 985,000 deaths in 2000, according to the World Health Organization. Yet the disease—a killer for centuries—remains endemic in many poor nations, particularly in Africa, where it is blamed in part for holding down economic growth.
Four years ago, Mr. Gates and his wife, Melinda, stunned the health-care community by setting malaria eradication as their ultimate goal, a target many thought unobtainable. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation so far has invested $1.75 billion in combating the disease.