Thanks to a newly developed partnership launched between the United Nations and pharmaceutical companies, the search for malaria and tuberculosis vaccines has been made easier, with hopes of speeding up its development. The UN World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has a virtual global health research community, WIPO Re:Search, which allows the sharing of intellectual property. Through this virtual community, pharmaceutical companies, non-profit BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH), and public and private sector organizations will be able to share intellectual property pertaining to the research and development on malaria, tuberculosis, and other neglected tropical diseases.
Because the vaccines of such diseases, once developed, must be distributed at such a very low price without a profit margin, the research towards its development will also be made royalty-free. As of right now, there are over 10 organizations that are involved in this research community, one of which includes GlaxoSmithKline, the pharmaceutical company that developed the first viable malaria vaccine in major trials. The WIPO Re:Search community serves to connect these organizations so that they are working together in developing vaccines that are vital in developing countries. Hopefully, this collaboration will still encourage such companies to work with the same fervor they’ve had before, rather than create a bystander effect.
The development of vaccines for malaria, tuberculosis, and other tropical diseases has the potential to save over billions of lives in this generation and future generations, and also has the potential to eradicate the diseases altogether. With such a large search initiative put into place with the UN, there are hopes that we have come a lot closer to such a globally vital development.
The article can be found here: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40205&Cr=malaria&Cr1=
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
World's first malaria vaccine works in major trial
In just this past week, it has been announced that the first ever malaria vaccine is successful against clinical and severe malaria in five to 17 month olds in sub-Saharan Africa through major trials. This vaccine, which has been in development for 24 years, has shown to halve the risk of infection in a study in Africa. Through the success of the study, it becomes more likely that there will be a version available to the world by 2015.
One of the major barriers of making a vaccine effective, cost, will be minimized as well. The cost of the vaccine will only be the cost of manufacturing and an additional 5% to go back into tropical disease research, so the company is not expecting to make any money from this project. The altruism of this company provides a positive outlook towards pharmaceutical companies, who normally get a bad reputation for marking up vaccines and medication. Unfortunately, even with the barrier of cost eliminated, accessibility will still hold as a barrier and will be more difficult to minimize.
However, once the vaccine is put into use worldwide, the risks of getting malaria will be greatly minimized. Because mosquito bites are inevitable, malaria is one of the most difficult diseases to prevent. Although there have been uses of pesticides, mosquito nets, and other methods of prevention, the use of a vaccine is undoubtedly the most effective method.
There are about 300-500 million cases of malaria each year, and 1 million annual deaths due to malaria, making malaria a high incidence disease, and thus a target towards goal 6 of the Millennium Development Goals. With the development of the malaria vaccine, we are finally going in the right direction towards reaching this goal.
The article can be found here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/18/malaria-vaccine-gsk-idUSL5E7LI4O020111018
One of the major barriers of making a vaccine effective, cost, will be minimized as well. The cost of the vaccine will only be the cost of manufacturing and an additional 5% to go back into tropical disease research, so the company is not expecting to make any money from this project. The altruism of this company provides a positive outlook towards pharmaceutical companies, who normally get a bad reputation for marking up vaccines and medication. Unfortunately, even with the barrier of cost eliminated, accessibility will still hold as a barrier and will be more difficult to minimize.
However, once the vaccine is put into use worldwide, the risks of getting malaria will be greatly minimized. Because mosquito bites are inevitable, malaria is one of the most difficult diseases to prevent. Although there have been uses of pesticides, mosquito nets, and other methods of prevention, the use of a vaccine is undoubtedly the most effective method.
There are about 300-500 million cases of malaria each year, and 1 million annual deaths due to malaria, making malaria a high incidence disease, and thus a target towards goal 6 of the Millennium Development Goals. With the development of the malaria vaccine, we are finally going in the right direction towards reaching this goal.
The article can be found here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/18/malaria-vaccine-gsk-idUSL5E7LI4O020111018
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Food Safety and Biosecurity Lecture by Dr. James M. Slauch, Dept of Microbiology UIUC
Food and water have always been culprits of many lethal illnesses globally. As the world moves to more industrialization and globalization, a wider spectrum of food-borne illnesses have emerged. In this lecture, Dr. Slauch introduced the nature of some of the organisms that cause food-borne diseases, possible remedies, and new emerging infections.
One of the oldest diseases that come from food consumption is typhoid and cholera. These diseases are transmitted through water, a vital component to food preparation. Dr. Slauch presented research that had been done tracing back to the 1800s in Philadelphia. At that time, there were 1,000 cases/year, and by 1906 the number of cases had reach 10,000 per year. However, once filtration and chlorination processes had been added to the water systems, numbers dwindled in just one or two decades to almost no cases. With historical evidence of the effects of filtration and chlorination, developing nations should use these methods in their water systems to prevent many unnecessary cases of deadly diseases that end up being more costly to care for than a change in basic infrastructure.
A new emerging issue with food production that Dr. Slauch presented is the role of globalization and food production and distribution. Food now is shipped all around the world. Just with food items in the US, 80% of fish/shellfish, 45% of fruits, 15-20% of vegetables, and 50% of nuts are imported. Over 99% of this food is left uninspected and untested, which can raise great concerns for food safety. In the 2007 E. coli outbreak in burgers, 940 people in the US became infected. When tracing back the production of these burgers, it was found that there were parts of the burger that came from 3 different states within the US, but there was also a part of the burger that was processed in Uraguay, making the E. coli source very difficult to determine.
The food industry has undoubtedly become a global entity, which makes it even more difficult to govern and ensure safety during consumption. The most easily applied method to lower the risk rate of most infections in all nations, however, is proper food handling and preparation, and this must be conveyed by furthering education on such procedures.
One of the oldest diseases that come from food consumption is typhoid and cholera. These diseases are transmitted through water, a vital component to food preparation. Dr. Slauch presented research that had been done tracing back to the 1800s in Philadelphia. At that time, there were 1,000 cases/year, and by 1906 the number of cases had reach 10,000 per year. However, once filtration and chlorination processes had been added to the water systems, numbers dwindled in just one or two decades to almost no cases. With historical evidence of the effects of filtration and chlorination, developing nations should use these methods in their water systems to prevent many unnecessary cases of deadly diseases that end up being more costly to care for than a change in basic infrastructure.
A new emerging issue with food production that Dr. Slauch presented is the role of globalization and food production and distribution. Food now is shipped all around the world. Just with food items in the US, 80% of fish/shellfish, 45% of fruits, 15-20% of vegetables, and 50% of nuts are imported. Over 99% of this food is left uninspected and untested, which can raise great concerns for food safety. In the 2007 E. coli outbreak in burgers, 940 people in the US became infected. When tracing back the production of these burgers, it was found that there were parts of the burger that came from 3 different states within the US, but there was also a part of the burger that was processed in Uraguay, making the E. coli source very difficult to determine.
The food industry has undoubtedly become a global entity, which makes it even more difficult to govern and ensure safety during consumption. The most easily applied method to lower the risk rate of most infections in all nations, however, is proper food handling and preparation, and this must be conveyed by furthering education on such procedures.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
The Power of 1%: What Americans Get for Investments in Global Health
High level officials from U.S. agency for International development and other government officials have met to discuss the impact of U.S. investment in foreign aid. This investment is supposed to have an effect on improving the lives of people, developing new foreign markets and protecting the U.S. from infectious disease. It supposedly believed by the American people that about twenty-five percent of the federal budget is invested into foreign aid. However the accurate figure is actually to be less than one percent. Leaders from different organizations have met to launch the power of 1%, which is meant to give people a better understanding how U.S. investments in foreign aid will help Americans back at home.
By investing in foreign aid to help improve the health of the international population, there is shown to be a correlation in growth of the economy and security. This is due to higher productivity levels, which saves money and ultimately benefits American Companies. Also by investing in reducing the spread of infectious diseases in other countries, this will help Americans from these diseases as they are less likely to spread across borders.
This article emphasizes the correlation of global health with the global economy, a correlation that many Americans may not recognize. However, it has been proven in the past that genes and germs follow our trade and travel routes. By using money from the US funds to prevent AIDS in Africa, we are essentially reducing the risk that AIDS will travel to the US. This correlation is true for many other dangerous infections abroad like malaria, TB, and H1N1, just to name a few. As more Americans recognize “The Power of 1%” and how it directly affects them, there is the expectation of greater support towards global health investments.
The article can be found here: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-power-of-1-what-americans-get-for-investments-in-global-health-2011-10-03
By investing in foreign aid to help improve the health of the international population, there is shown to be a correlation in growth of the economy and security. This is due to higher productivity levels, which saves money and ultimately benefits American Companies. Also by investing in reducing the spread of infectious diseases in other countries, this will help Americans from these diseases as they are less likely to spread across borders.
This article emphasizes the correlation of global health with the global economy, a correlation that many Americans may not recognize. However, it has been proven in the past that genes and germs follow our trade and travel routes. By using money from the US funds to prevent AIDS in Africa, we are essentially reducing the risk that AIDS will travel to the US. This correlation is true for many other dangerous infections abroad like malaria, TB, and H1N1, just to name a few. As more Americans recognize “The Power of 1%” and how it directly affects them, there is the expectation of greater support towards global health investments.
The article can be found here: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-power-of-1-what-americans-get-for-investments-in-global-health-2011-10-03
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Denmark Institutes Fat Tax
Today marks a monumental step in global health, using money as a weapon against the crisis of obesity. In the past, “sin tax” has been heavily associated with alcohol and tobacco, but starting today in Demark, it will also begin to include a “fat tax” on staple items like butter, ground beef, and other saturated fats. Overall, the government is levying a tax of 2.5 Euros per kilogram of saturated fat, or $1.60 per pound. Because this is the first time a ”fat tax” has been levied, new data is expected to arise from this to see whether this rise in the cost of fats will make an impact in combating obesity like the “sin tax” has been effective against cigarette consumption.
Obesity is an ever growing concern, as the WHO announces that since 1980, worldwide obesity has more than doubled. The total number of those who are overweight is 1.5 billion, which is about 22% of the entire world population. This disease of obesity is also highly correlated with some of the world’s most deadly diseases like Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and the list goes on.
The newly instated “fat tax” is now taking a new, passive route in targeting this preventable disease. If it is proved to be successful, it will be much easier to pass laws globally that will increase the price of obesity causing foods, rather than trying to make health outreach initiatives that reach the global population. On the flip side, this could just negatively impact the economy and drive the prices of other goods up as well. To see the effectiveness of this approach, we will have to wait several years for results.
The article can be found here: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/110930/denmark-health-fat-tax
Obesity is an ever growing concern, as the WHO announces that since 1980, worldwide obesity has more than doubled. The total number of those who are overweight is 1.5 billion, which is about 22% of the entire world population. This disease of obesity is also highly correlated with some of the world’s most deadly diseases like Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and the list goes on.
The newly instated “fat tax” is now taking a new, passive route in targeting this preventable disease. If it is proved to be successful, it will be much easier to pass laws globally that will increase the price of obesity causing foods, rather than trying to make health outreach initiatives that reach the global population. On the flip side, this could just negatively impact the economy and drive the prices of other goods up as well. To see the effectiveness of this approach, we will have to wait several years for results.
The article can be found here: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/110930/denmark-health-fat-tax
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