Seattle Global Health News – PATH, Gates and IDRI
Gates gives $255 million to $630 million polio eradication push
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a $255 million challenge grant to Rotary International for its Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
The Rotary will match the Gates grant with $100 million raised by its own members over the next three years.
In addition, the United Kingdom will give $150 million and Germany will give $130 million to the protect.
Polio vaccination has reduced the number of new cases of this crippling disease from more than 350,000 in 1988 to fewer than 2,000 last year. Polio, however, persists in Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Health experts hope that it will be possible to eradicate the disease completely by 2013.
To learn more:
- Visit the Rotary’s Web site and read about the Gates Foundation grant and the Rotary’s End Polio Initiative.
PATH develops antifreeze to protect vaccines
Scientists at Seattle’s PATH and the University of Colorado have developed an “antifreeze” to protect vaccines. Most vaccines need to be kept cold to remain effective but can be damaged if they are allowed to get too cold and freeze.
Keeping vaccine properly chilled until they can be administered in remote villages is a major challenge in global health.
In an earlier study, PATH scientists found that it was very common for vaccines to be frozen during distribution, reducing their effectiveness.
In a new study appearing in the current issue of the journal Vaccine, the PATH and University of Colorado scientists describe how it is possible to use the additives glycerin, propylene glycol and polyethylene glycol as an “antifreeze” to protect vaccines from freezing. These additives have long been used safely in food and medical products.
PATH has placed the technology in the public domain so that vaccine makers worldwide can adopt the approach in their products.
To learn more:
- Visit PATH’s Web site and read about its work on vaccine delivery and vaccine stabilization.
IDRI’s Founder selected to be “Global Health Ambassador”
Dr. Steve Reed, Founder and Head of Research and Development at Seattle’s Infectious Disease Research Institute has been selected to join a group 25 experts who will advocate for greater U.S. investment in global health.
The group is organized by the Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research, an arm of the Research!America, an organization based in Alexandria, Virginia dedicated to increasing U.S. funding for medical research.
The 25 “Global Health Ambassadors” will press members of Congress and the new Administration in Washington to fund research into such disease as tuberculosis, polio and other neglected tropical diseases.
Dr. Reed’s research has focused on the immunology of intracellular infections, such as Leishmaniasis, and has worked on the development of vaccines and diagnostics for both cancer and infectious diseases.
PHOTO CREDIT: CDC – Dr. Francis W. Chandler
To learn more:
- Visit the Research!America Web site.
- Visit IDRI’s Web Site
Category: Global Health, Immune System, Infections
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