This week in public health saw a HUGE announcement in Malaria research. The results of the largest field trial of an experimental malaria vaccine came back with ground-breaking news. The trial was set up so that one group of children received three doses of the experimental vaccine. The other group received a control vaccine for either rabies or meningitis. The group that received that the three doses of experimental vaccine had 55 percent less risk of getting malaria over the span of one year. It is probably the most significant step in malaria cure research seen in a very long time, if ever. The funding for this particular study was split between the drug company, GlaxoSmithKline and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has dedicated much of its resources and funding towards finding a cure for malaria. GSK put in $300 million and the Foundation put in $200 million. The money went to a non-profit organization called PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative. Now, as exciting as it is to see this kind of significant progress in a disease as serious as malaria…my mind is swirling with all kinds of thoughts.
There is one question that keeps coming up in my mind as I read through the various articles about this development. Cost. We all know it is amazingly awesome news to find a vaccine that can cut the risk of malaria in half. For countries, such as India, it has massive implications for many of the health and social problems affecting the country. BUT…how accessible will this vaccine be, financially, to those having malaria? Malaria is seen in populations which are mostly poor and rural…are they REALLY going to be able to afford this vaccine? GSK has apparently made a commitment to sell the vaccine for the same amount it costs to produce it plus an extra 5%, which GSK claims will be used for malaria treatment and other infectious disease research. GSK also claims that one way they will try to keep the price down is to build vaccine plants in India and Africa, where malaria runs rampant. So…the catch? GSK hasn’t exactly specified, in dollars, how much this vaccine will truly cost. Will the final vaccine price be feasible to handle the millions of people around the world who have malaria? I am a little skeptical of things that drug companies say, and promises they make. In a way, the fate of this disease really falls in the hands of a drug company. I hope that GSK will step out of their corporate offices and really look at the big picture of this disease. This is a disease that is especially deadly in children under the age of 5. It is time for drug companies to take a stand against their desires for profit, and start to reconnect with their desires to genuinely help less fortunate people who have this disease. If a drug company chooses not to make their medicines/vaccines extremely affordable for the impoverished communities in India and Africa, then they have completely lost their focus and purpose in being involved with malaria research in the first place. I am hopeful no matter what the socioeconomic status, everyone and anyone who needs to vaccine will be able to obtain it.
