Science Article Summary #5

Enserink, M. “Gates Call for ‘Decade of Vaccines,’ Pledges Assault on Child Mortality.” ScienceInsider. January 29, 2010. [Internet]. [accessed Feb 4 2010] Available from:
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/01/gates-calls-for.html

Gates Call for “Decade of Vaccines,” Pledges Assault on Child Mortality

At the World Enconomic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland on January 29, 2010, Bill and Melinda Gates announced the launch of a campaign, “Decade of Vaccines,” help end child mortality in poor countries.

Currently, 79% of children in developing countries are fully vaccinated against diseases such as diphtheria, tentanus and petussis, which has already saved millions of lives. According to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, if the number could be increased to 90%, an additional 7.6 million lives could be saved by 2020.

The Gates’ would like to also increase vaccination rates for other diseases, such as Haemophilus influenza type B, pneumococcal disease, and rotavirus, and to support vaccines currently being developed for malaria and tuberculosis.

The Gates’s announcement was well-received by global health leaders. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, called it “unprecedented,” and supported their efforts in a written statement that also called on other organizations to step up their efforts. The Gates foundation currently spends about $800 million annually on vaccine research and plans to raise that amount to $1 billion annually. It is hoped that the announcement by the Gates Foundation will encourage other organizations to fund research, development and education programs for vaccines.