$168 million from Gates Foundation to fight malaria

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has announced grants totalling $168 million to fund malaria research. The Malaria Vaccine Initiative will receive $100 million, $40 million will go to the Medicines for Malaria Venture (a Geneva-based not-for-profit organization developing new anti-malarial drugs) and $28 million will be spent on large multi-centre trials of a new prevention strategy that combines the use of antimalarial drugs in the first year of life with routine vaccination. Announcing the funding boost during a visit to Mozambique, Gates remarked, 'Malaria is robbing Africa of its people and its potential'. 90% of the 1 million deaths from malaria each year occur in Africa, with most deaths in children. (TDR) Nature

WHO makes urgent appeal for meningitis funds

In the 'African meningitis belt', which stretches from Ethiopia in the east to The Gambia in the west, outbreaks of meningitis during the dry season can be devastating, frequently infecting more than 10,000 individuals. Following a severe outbreak caused by the emergence of Neisseria meningitidis strain W135 last year, GlaxoSmithKline, in partnership with the WHO, have produced a trivalent vaccine, effective against W135 and meningococcal strains A and C, in a record 6 months. 3 million doses of the vaccine are available at just €1 per dose, however, according to the WHO, unless sufficient funds are donated to purchase the vaccine soon, it will not be distributed in time for this year's dry season. Dr Anarfi Asamoa-Baah, Assistant Director-General in charge of Communicable Diseases at the WHO said, 'This is an urgent health situation which forces quick action'. WHO

Serious measles outbreak in the Pacific

CDC representatives are working with health officials on the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific to contain a serious measles outbreak. More than 600 cases of measles have been reported on the islands, which fall under US jurisdiction, with at least 3 deaths. It is believed that the measles virus was introduced from Asia, and was able to spread because of poor vaccine uptake — less than 75% of children under the age of 13 had been vaccinated against measles. In a press briefing, CDC director Dr Julie Gerberding remarked that measles is still a 'very real and important global health problem' and that the outbreak emphasized the importance of vigilance to ensure that adequate vaccination coverage is maintained. CDC

Hepatitis threatens tribes in Peru

The Minister for Health in Peru has turned to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for help in halting the spread of hepatitis B in two remotes tribes. Local leaders fear that the tribes, which are located along the Pastaza and Morona rivers in the Amazon Basin, face extinction if the disease cannot be contained. In response to the appeal, UNICEF has launched an emergency vaccination campaign. The hepatitis B vaccine is 95% effective, and vaccination requires 3 doses of vaccine. As infants and young children are most at risk of hepatitis B, the UNICEF team aims to vaccinate all newborn children within 24 hours of birth and to complete the vaccination regime before the children reach the age of 1. UNICEF

Cholera still a concern in Liberia

More than 10,000 individuals have been affected by the cholera epidemic in Liberia, which started in June 2003, with more than 100 deaths from the disease reported in the capital Monrovia. In the 14 years of civil war, an estimated 1.5 million people have been forced to leave their homes. In the most recent escalation in the conflict, more than 100,000 people are believed to have moved into temporary camps in and around the capital. The WHO and other non-governmental organizations have undertaken a mass chlorination of the capital's 5,000 wells in an effort to clean up water supplies and stop the spread of disease. The epidemic is now thought to have peaked, but is still a cause for great concern. WHO