British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and tech billionaire Bill Gates yesterday unveiled a plan to spend billions of pounds to eradicate “the world’s deadliest killer” malaria.
Osborne and Gates announced ￡3 billion (US$4.28 billion) in funding over the next five years for research and to support efforts to eliminate the mosquito-borne disease, in a joint article in the Times.
“When it comes to human tragedy, no creature comes close to the devastation caused by the mosquito,” the two wrote. “We both believe that a malaria-free world has to be one of the highest global health priorities.”
The fund would be made up of ￡500 million per year from Britain’s overseas aid budget for the next five years, as well as US$200 million this year from The Gates Foundation, with more donations to follow.
There were 438,000 malaria deaths last year, most of them of children aged younger than five, and the majority of them in Africa, according to the WHO.
Efforts to control the disease have made significant progress in the past 15 years, but are threatened by the spread of resistance to anti-malarial drugs and to insecticide, the WHO said in its World Malaria Report last year.
“If new insecticides are not introduced by 2020, the situation will become critical and deaths could surge,” Osborne and Gates wrote, adding that fighting diseases required collaboration between private companies, governments and charities.
“We are optimistic that in our lifetimes we can eradicate malaria and other deadly tropical diseases, and confront emerging threats, making the world a safer place for all,” the article concluded.
Microsoft co-founder Gates has turned his attention from software to fighting disease and other ills around the world with his wife, under the auspices of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The charity has disbursed more than US$28 billion and provided funding for the world’s most clinically advanced malaria vaccine, Mosquirix, developed by GlaxoSmithKline.
Mosquirix is the first malaria vaccine to reach Phase III clinical testing — the final stage before market approval — and the first to be assessed by regulators. It received a nod from European regulators in July last year.
A WHO expert panel in October last year recommended pilot trials of the vaccine involving young children in several areas of sub-Saharan Africa, before considering wider use.
The WHO is expected to follow the panel’s recommendations, which could result in Mosquirix becoming the first licensed vaccine against a parasitic disease. However, a decision still lies a way off.
The announcement comes days after Gates revealed plans for a US$100 million scheme to cut malnutrition in Nigeria.
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