Inspirational Tuesday: Bill Gates Saving Lives In Africa

Taken From Shearlingsplowed blog:

"250,000 Africans die from one or more strains of meningitis"

"This is the story of how -- working creatively, in multi-national teams, and with donations from private industry -- the problem has been solved. And at $0.50 per vaccine dose".

Making A $0.50 Per Dose Meningitis A Conjugate Vaccine (Vs. $50-$80 Per Dose: Novartis/Sanofi)

This morning, Celia W. Dugger, writing for The New York Times -- has an excellent story on the Bill-Gates-funded Meningitis Vaccine Project initiative. About a decade ago, Gates' charity gave $70 million to pursue a conjugate vaccine against bacterial, and viral meningitis -- in sub-Sarahan Africa.

This is a market in which no western pharma concern could possibly ever hope to make a profit -- as (for whatever reason) "western" meningitis A vaccines sell for between $50 and $80 per dose.

Africa can barely afford one one-hundredth of that, on a per dose basis. Yet each year, perhaps 250,000 Africans die from one or more strains of meningitis, borne on the dry winds which sweep across that vast desert. This is the story of how -- working creatively, in multi-national teams, and with donations from private industry -- the problem has been solved. And at $0.50 per vaccine dose.

This is, simply, the most noble end of all science: ending human suffering. To start at the end, as it were -- here is a 90 second YouTube video of the manufacturing process, at the Serum Institute of India (a MVP partner) -- as our final product, Men A conjugate vaccine leaves the plant, bound for Africa.

Yes, help is on the way:

Monday, December 6, 2010

UPDATE: How To Donate -- And Double Your Impact MenAfriVac™ The Meningitis A Conjugate Vaccine Project For Africa. . .

A kindly, but anonymous soul just asked about how, and where, exactly -- to make a donation to the very worthy cause I highlighted in my most-recent Sunday morning (more generalized musings. . . with coffee!) post.

Here is the comment:
. . . .What a wonderful story! Thanks for posting this. Do you know of any charity accepting donations toward the vaccination campaign? If MSF/Doctors Without Borders is in, I'll gladly increase my monthly donations to them. December 6, 2010 9:11 PM. . . .And, natch' -- my answer, then:Thank you so much for asking!

To Donate

The most direct route is to donate to PATH (see 1:30 YouTube above; click link below!), the umbrella charity running the mass immunization in Africa -- and in December 2010, your donation will be matched, dollar for dollar, effectively doubling it!

Click on the red bar (at right margin) when you arrive there: