Bill Gates Unleashes Swarm of Mosquitoes on Crowd:(about Malaria vaccine)

[Marnica]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,488348,00.html

Microsoft founder turned philanthropist Bill Gates released a glass full of mosquitoes at an elite technology conference to make a point about the deadly disease malaria.

The philanthropist has been pushing to reduce malaria deaths through the nonprofit. In September, Gates announced that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation would provide $168.7 million to the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative to help develop a vaccine for the deadly disease.

[newmum35]

Don't you just wish he would pour all that money into finding the CAUSE of Autism since that is something kids are experiencing in epidemic proportions in our OWN country... or to develop SAFER vaccines that we ALREADY Have? Wonder if anyone has tried educating him on this matter. No doubt he thinks he is doing something wonderful and I wonder just how much 'research' he has actually done on the matter.

[carriebft]

I don't think there is anything wrong with not looking inside your own country. I don't agree with all of Gates' doings but I don't look down on him for wanting to prevent Malaria or raise money for that cause. Considering the reach of his business, he probably feels a great pull outside of the USA.

[Murihiku]

Originally Posted by newmum35

Don't you just wish he would pour all that money into finding the CAUSE of Autism since that is something kids are experiencing in epidemic proportions in our OWN country... or to develop SAFER vaccines that we ALREADY Have? Wonder if anyone has tried educating him on this matter. No doubt he thinks he is doing something wonderful and I wonder just how much 'research' he has actually done on the matter.

According to the WHO, "[t]here were 247 million cases of malaria in 2006, causing about 880,000 deaths, mostly among African children."

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/facts.../en/index.html

The population of the US is about 300 million.

So going by the standards of Utilitarianism "the greatest good of the greatest number," I'd say his desire to do something about malaria is an ethical choice.

(Whether "good" is best done by a vaccine is another issue.)

(And, it's irrelevant but I can't resist mentioning it: I've had malaria.)

[MountainMamaGC]

Access to clean water would save many lives and improve the health of billions of people. Dirty water kills 4000 children a day. 4 billion dollars would solve the entire worlds need for clean water. 10-15 million people die each year because they dont have acces to clean water. Id say that is the biggest threat and yet they would rather push vaccines on people. Vaccines for disease that clean water can prevent. There is something very fishy about this and i dont like it.

[Murihiku]

I just did some "research" (i.e. I googled "malaria clean water") and found this:

http://eau.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/11/1/159.pdf

and this

http://www.eyesonmalaria.org/why%20m...ling%20us.html

which both tell me that the anopheles mosquito which passes on malaria prefers clean water.

From the latter:

"The basic knowledge most Ghanaians have is that the female anopheles mosquito which causes malaria, breeds in dirty surrounding and stagnant waters. Hence, most preventive measures in Ghana are aimed at educating the populace to keep their surroundings clean and get rid of stagnant waters. But the anopheles mosquito [ . . .] which transmits malaria to humans preferred relatively clean water.

"The anopheles is choosy in terms of where it breeds," says the Manager of the National Malaria Control Programme(NMCP), Mrs. Constance Bart-Plange. She explains that the anopheles mosquito lays its eggs in areas where it can get clean stagnant water such as in flower pots, ponds, pot holes, dugout pits, hoof prints, puddles, rice fields and streams."

I have no way of telling how credible these sources are, but I expect Bill Gates can pay for proper research into the causes of malaria.

Africans need clean water. I asked my husband to pay for three Oxfam "clean water" gifts to Africa for my birthday present last year. But maybe malaria is a little more complex than that.

ETA: If you want to donate some clean water:

https://payment.csfm.com/donations/u...php?gift_id=21

[MountainMamaGC]

Bill Gates can pay for research to prove what he believes about malaria. Just like big pharma researches what they want to prove about vaccines. Dirty water is responsible for many diseases. A vaccine for malaria is only good for one and thats if its 100% effective and doesnt mutate to bring forth a more dangerous disease the vaccine cant handle. Also clean water comes from wells underground so once established villages can get rid of open water.

[buttercupmama]

I haven't researched malaria myself, but mosquitos in general absolutely love me. Neem oil is actually a very effective repellent and it's natural. This is how I choose to deal with mosquitos. Also, I've read about simply pouring the oil into any water where a mosquito may be laying eggs. It's not something you want to ingest, but you most likely won't be drinking that water anyway.

As for parasites, I would take wormwood. This is what my naturopath recommends and I've used it in the past. I definitely prefer this to a vaccine for myself and my family.

[Murihiku]

Originally Posted by Lydiah

Bill Gates can pay for research to prove what he believes about malaria. Just like big pharma researches what they want to prove about vaccines. Dirty water is responsible for many diseases. A vaccine for malaria is only good for one and thats if its 100% effective and doesnt mutate to bring forth a more dangerous disease the vaccine cant handle. Also clean water comes from wells underground so once established villages can get rid of open water.

Wouldn't it be good if it was only 50% effective? If that saved 50% of the people who are now dying or brain damaged?

As for mutation, "Antimalarial drug resistance hinders malaria control and is therefore a major public health problem"

http://www.who.int/malaria/resistance.html

So the medicine has a resistance problem. Maybe the vaccine would be less useless and dangerous than the medicine?

Do you not believe the information about the anopheles mosquito?

I think your point about wells is a good one. However, it might be difficult to eliminate all clean standing water in a continent with a rainy season--I don't know enough about it to say.

And can't we have both clean water, and a vaccine for malaria? They don't have to cancel each other out.

ETA: Maybe a malaria vaccine is a mistake. I don't know enough about malaria to say one way or another.

[tmaue]

Wondering why they aren't trying to come up with something to kill the mosquitos (or lower their population), since they are the ones with the disease. Generally I am not one for messing with the balance of nature, but it seems like it may be justified in this situation.

Also wondering about the health of the people who are dying of malaria vs the people who get malaria but do not die (from the numbers posted above, millions are getting it but not dying) . Should they not be promoting and spending money on better nutrition so that the people would be able to handle malaria without dying. This would also allow them to handle other diseases that come their way.

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by Murihiku

According to the WHO, "[t]here were 247 million cases of malaria in 2006, causing about 880,000 deaths, mostly among African children."

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/facts.../en/index.html

The population of the US is about 300 million.

So going by the standards of Utilitarianism "the greatest good of the greatest number," I'd say his desire to do something about malaria is an ethical choice.

(Whether "good" is best done by a vaccine is another issue.)

(And, it's irrelevant but I can't resist mentioning it: I've had malaria.)

You've had malaria yet you are still alive? Do tell.

[Murihiku]

Originally Posted by Marnica

You've had malaria yet you are still alive? Do tell.

Okay. I was born in Zambia where my British parents went to teach secondary school. My father, sister, and I all caught malaria. The doctor told my mother about the threat of brain damage, and she freaked out and decided to take us back to Britain. I was 3.5 years old at the time and my sister was 2. Dad had to finish his contract, so my mother spent 18 months by herself with two small children and Dad spent 18 months by himself. My earliest memories do not include my father.

If the stats I quoted in my first post are correct (and I got the calculation right--always doubtful), a person infected with malaria has a 1 in 281 chance of dying from it. I don't know how much nutrition factors into that; we were British and thus privileged and perhaps that gave us a better chance of recovery than some other African children.

(It's very weird to think that I was once an African child, and indeed, that I am still, technically, African. I could have four passports! (Zambian, British, New Zealand, and Canadian--I'm a Commonwealther!)

[Murihiku]

Originally Posted by tmaue

Wondering why they aren't trying to come up with something to kill the mosquitos (or lower their population), since they are the ones with the disease. Generally I am not one for messing with the balance of nature, but it seems like it may be justified in this situation.

They are:

"Key interventions to control malaria include: prompt and effective treatment with artemisinin-based combination therapies; use of insecticidal nets by people at risk; and indoor residual spraying with insecticide to control the vector mosquitoes."

http://www.who.int/topics/malaria/en/

Apparently the mosquitos are developing resistance.

[PaigeC]

Originally Posted by Murihiku

Wouldn't it be good if it was only 50% effective? If that saved 50% of the people who are now dying or brain damaged?

IMO, 50% would be great if we also knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that there weren't other unintended consequences stemming from the vaccine.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by tmaue

Wondering why they aren't trying to come up with something to kill the mosquitos (or lower their population), since they are the ones with the disease. Generally I am not one for messing with the balance of nature, but it seems like it may be justified in this situation.

They had something for that a long time ago - pretty good success rate, too. It was called DDT. I don't want to see it come back, though...

[Murihiku]

Originally Posted by PaigeC

IMO, 50% would be great if we also knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that there weren't other unintended consequences stemming from the vaccine.

I agree. But of course that is impossible. So I don't know whether a vaccine is a good risk or not.

[buttercupmama]

I read somewhere that lots of supplemental B complex seems to prevent infection. Perhaps that is what should be pushed as opposed to more mad chemistry.

[MountainMamaGC]

This is a fairly new vaccine. who know what the side effects are 10-20 years down the line.

[MountainMamaGC]

People residing in malaria-endemic regions acquire immunity to malaria through natural exposure to malaria parasites. Children living in areas of stable malaria transmission become infected early in life, and experience more severe disease symptoms during the first five years of life. But as immunity develops the disease becomes less severe and the number of parasites circulating in the blood declines. The acquired immune response to malaria is strain specific and is lost if a person moves away from a malaria endemic area.

http://malaria.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_WTD023885.html

I think poor health kills a good lot of those people. If they are healthy they aquire immunnity to malaria. I think from a unitarian perspective clean water is the way to save the most lives, but I dont think saving lives is what the Bill Gates foundation is about.

[just_lily]

My brother and SIL purchased mosquito nets as part of the Spread the Net campaign for almost everyone on their Christmas list. They are provided to children in malaria-infected areas. Cost is $10 (Canadian) a piece. Three were donated in my family's honour.

I just don't understand why the answer to everything has to be a vaccine. There may be other better, cheaper options with fewer risks.

I am all for preventing people from getting Malaria, I am just not convinced we have to inject toxins into people to do so.