Malaria vaccine for Africa likely to be distributed from 2015

I'm not sure if you are all aware of it., but Malaria is one of the biggest killers of humans in the world.

A child dies of Malaria every 30 second.

So this is indeed good news. (Put aside for the time being all the debate about vaccines, just for now!)

Times Online

The first vaccine against malaria is likely to be distributed in Africa from 2015 after the “milestone moment” of the continent’s largest final-stage drug trial, scientists have told The Times.

A meeting of 1,500 specialists in infectious disease will be told tomorrow that more than 5,500 children have been given the RTS,S vaccine, made by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the British pharmaceutical company, as part of the trial. Vaccine developers will tell the conference that the phase three trial is under way in seven countries around Africa, marking a major step in bringing the drug to licence.

Malaria is a parasitic disease that infects about 250 million people every year, resulting in almost a million deaths. It is caused by the Plasmodium parasite, which is passed to humans by infected mosquitoes when they bite. The disease can damage the nervous system, kidneys and liver, and severe cases can quickly lead to death.

Please click on the link and read the entire article, as I don't quote the entire piece.

Anyhow, I believe this is good news for Africa, and for you sceptics out there - If they wanted to kill off these people, they wouldn't bother with the vaccine and let them get Malaria!


[edit on 1-11-2009 by kiwifoot]