ISGlobal and "la Caixa" Against Malaria Applaud a Nobel Prize that Highlights Global Health Research

ISGlobal and the "la Caixa" contra la Malaria program hail the Nobel Academy's choice for the 2015 Prize in Physiology or Medicine, that underlines the role of Global Health research, particularly in vector-borne parasitic diseases. "It is a clear recognition to research focusing on infectious diseases that affect the world's poorest and most vulnerable, and in a field – that of Global Health – that was not considered as a priority up to now", claims Antoni Plasència, director of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health Insitute (ISGlobal). "The discoveries made by these researchers are the best example of the direct impact that science can have on people's lives, and represent contributions that have saved hundreds of millions of lives", he adds.    

The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute awarded the prize to the American biologist William C. Campbell and the Japanese microbiologist Satoshi Omura for their discovery of a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites (onchocerciasis and filariasis), and to the Chinese pharmacologist Youyou Tu for the discovery of artemisinin, a drug that has proved key in reducing malaria mortality rates. 

The announcement takes place a few days after the approval of the Sustainable Developmental Goals, that set the international agenda for the next 15 years and that aim, among other things, to end AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases. The awardees' contributions in their respective fields of research have been crucial to paving the way to the elimination of onchocerciasis, filariasis and malaria. 

Onchocerciasis and filariasis affect around 200 million people that live mainly in Africa and Southeast Asia. Omura's and Campbell's work led to the development of ivermectin that, together with hygiene and prevention strategies, has been instrumental towards the elimination of both diseases. In the last years, Colombia and Ecuador managed to eliminate onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness. In addition, 17 out of 73 endemic countries are on track for the elimination of filariasis, also known as elephantiasis, by 2020.

To date, artemisinin-based combined therapies represent the first-line treatment for malaria. Thanks to the combination of such treatment and preventive measures such as the use of insecticide-treated bed nets, the number of malaria cases worldwide has fallen drastically over the past 15 years, encouraging the international community to aim at eliminating the disease, instead of simply controlling it.  An example of this is the Mozambican Alliance for the Elimination of Malaria, a program funded by "la Caixa" and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, that seeks to provide evidence-based strategies for eliminating the disease in the southernmost areas of Mozambique.