Each year, 27 million children in poor countries do not receive basic preventive vaccines. As a result, serious diseases that were eliminated in industrialized countries long ago remain widespread in the developing world, causing more than one million child deaths annually. Most vaccines must be given multiple times over weeks or months, and must be kept constantly refrigerated -- these are serious obstacles for families who must travel long distances to the nearest health clinic, and for communities without electricity.
An estimated 151 million vaccine doses delivered to developing countries this year will spoil because they are not properly refrigerated.
In addition, most vaccines are delivered by injection, which increases the risk that HIV, hepatitis, and other infections could be transmitted by unsterile or reused syringes and needles. An estimated 500,000 serious infections could be avoided this year by using needle-free vaccines.
Recent advances in genetic engineering, chemical engineering and other scientific disciplines could lead to a new generation of childhood vaccines that are effective after a single dose, and do not require refrigeration or needles.
Leading this efforrt is the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative formed in 2003; a partnership dedicated to supporting scientific and technical research to solve critical health problems in the developing world. The initiative's partners are the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, and the Wellcome Trust.
R & D Booster Shot
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced on Tuesday that it is committing an additional $100 million over five years to create a new fast-track grants initiative to support innovative global health research. The initiative’s goal is to encourage scientists worldwide to explore creative, unorthodox ideas that could lead to major breakthroughs against some of the greatest health challenges facing poor countries.
The new initiative, called Grand Challenges Explorations, will support hundreds of early-stage research projects – many pursuing ideas that have never before been tested, and involving scientists from a wide range of disciplines. The Explorations initiative will focus on rapidly evaluating a large number of innovative ideas that could lead to new vaccines, diagnostics, drugs, and other technologies targeting diseases that claim millions of lives every year.
