Africa
Gates foundation gives grants for research
Participants follow proceedings at the Grand Challenges conference at the Arusha International Conference Centre. PHOTO/ CORRESPONDENTS
Posted Saturday, October 24 2009 at 12:20
Grand Challenges Explorations is a five-year, $100 million initiative to promote innovation in global health. It is part of the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative, which is supported by the Gates Foundation to achieve major breakthroughs in global health.
Dr Yamada said they will ensure that any product from the innovations being funded would be affordable to the poor.
“We pay close attention to discovery, development and delivery of medicines. This is the only way we can ensure universal access to treatment.”
He regretted that most drugs in Sub-Saharan Africa is in the hands of private sector which in turn sell to public health institutions at higher prices. To address this, he said, the Foundation is seeking partnerships with private companies such as Coca-Cola with large distribution networks to deliver drugs to every village.
“There is no reason why any group of people should not access healthcare services. This is why we are pursuing technology-based healthcare solutions,” Dr Yamada explained.
The Grand Challenges event was held alongside the Keystone Symposium on Global Health Series titled ‘Overcoming the Crisis of Tuberculosis and Aids.’
Tuberculosis is the largest cause of death in the Aids setting, having caused approximately 50 per cent of all Aids deaths globally.
The focus of the Keystone Symposia meeting, which ended Sunday, is to gain deeper insights into the immune pathology and deadly synergism between HIV and TB and its global toll in order to identify new ways to solve this global catastrophe by way of basic scientific discovery, and the development and delivery of vaccines, drugs and care.
Hassan Mshinda, director-general of Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology, said global warming had resulted in an upsurge of malaria in areas that were safe from the disease.
“Climate change has altered malaria prevalence in Tanzania and other countries in the region. We have witnessed lowered temperatures in areas that were cold a few years ago,” Dr Mshinda said.
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