Africans placing great hope in vaccine trial

Bagamoyo, Tanzania: Billionaire Bill Gates and thousands of babies are helping Africa prepare its largest medical experiment ever, in the search for a new, more effective vaccine against malaria.

Researchers say the push comes at a crucial time in the battle against a disease that has been beaten back several times before, only to return with deadly vigour.

For Dr Zena Mtajuka, an exhausted warrior on the frontlines of the fight against one of the planet's most devastating diseases, a vaccine cannot come quickly enough.

"Malaria is our number one killer in this district," said Mtajuka in her cramped office at Bagamoyo District Hospital north of Tanzania's capital Dar es Salaam.

"The hardest thing is that members of the community come to the hospital too late. It makes them harder to save."

Bagamoyo is one of almost a dozen research sites where scientists are in the final stages of preparing for a large-scale efficacy and safety trial of the "RTS,S" vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline PLC.

16,000 children

The trial, which is slated to begin early next year and will involve 16,000 children in seven African countries, is the largest ever undertaken on the continent. Its funders, including groups supported by the Gates Foundation, hope it will result in a new and effective strategy against the disease.

Bagamoyo's malaria burden is typical of many places in tropical Africa, home to most of the roughly 1 million people who die each year because of the mosquito-borne illness.

Public health officials estimate malaria costs Africa $12 billion (Dh44.14 billion) due to deaths and lost productivity, a twin burden the world's poorest continent cannot afford.

Public health advocates have cited malaria as an emerging global health success story, with new drugs, bed nets and insecticides contributing to sharp drops in infection rates in a number of countries.