Malaria Breakthrough

Anyone who spends time traveling in tropical third world countries is (or should be) aware of the devastation caused by malaria, a disease that kills a human being every 30 seconds. When I was in Kalimantan, everyone I met had contracted malaria at some point, and many had horror stories to tell. Sub-saharan Africa is the hardest hit.

That's why I was so heartened this week to come across a breakthrough in the fight against malaria. The Reuters article, New Malaria Vaccine Shows Promise in Infants, explains that a new anti-malarial vaccine under development can be given to infants and is 66% effective in preventing malaria. The vaccine is certainly not perfect, but potentially can save millions of lives. Of course, this is not a panacea. The vaccine can have serious side effects, and increasingly resistant strains are emerging; there is much work to be done to rid the planet of this plague.

It's no surprise that a good way to start learning about and taking action against this disease is at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation web site, which gives specifics on how to get involved.