BBC Focus Magazine

[Healerman]

Good news from the world's largest and most advanced trial of a vaccine against malaria. The vaccine, called RTS,S, halved the risk of developing the disease.
The RTS,S trial involves 15,460 children in seven African countries. The new result comes from an interim analysis of 6000 of the participants, aged 5 to 17 months, a year after they received their jabs.
"We're pleased with this result," says Mary Hamel, a member of the vaccine trial team based at the Kenya Medical Research Institute in Nairobi.

A potential 50% success rate against one of the World's biggest killers...that has to be good.

[Nails]

Indeed.

It is a nasty disease that humanity will be well shot of one day, and hopefully that day is a step nearer.

[M Paul Lloyd]

I recall being told that I would witness the extinction of TB in my lifetime......... it hasn't happened yet.

[Nails]

But you are still alive MPL..........
There could be plenty of time yet!

[M Paul Lloyd]

Well, let us hope so. But I'm not holding my breath.

[Healerman]

Well, let us hope so. But I'm not holding my breath.

Yes, that could be rather counter-productive.

[MrIsaksson]

My concern is that the problem really isnt getting a vaccine, sad as it may sound.

One of my friends work for a UK/Swedish pharmaceutical company which should remain unnamed and he told me they were approached by a large foundation/charity to create a medicine for one of the more nasty parasites in Africa (my apologies for not being able to remember which parasite).
They started doing some investigation and they realised there were already good medicine available and when they went back to the charity and asked why they didnt use the existing medicine. The answer back was that the around £1.50 for a course of the medicine was too expensive and it need to get under 50 pence to be possible to reach the masses....
At which time they had to drop it as they could never produce a new medicine at that price...

£1.50 to effectively save someone's life was to expensive....how sad.....

Of course this is slightly different as it only cured it so the person could get reinfected and need a new dose.