This article (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/world/africa/05meningitis.html?_r=1&scp=11&sq=epidemic%20disease&st=cse) titled "New Meningitis Vaccine Brings Hope of Taming a Ravaging Illness in Africa", describes how a new vaccine being introduced in Africa is anticipated to save hundreds of thousands of lives. The author of the article is Celia W. Dugger, and it was published on December 4, 2010 in the New York Times. It begins by informing the reader of Africa's previous hardships with meningitis, saying that it "kills with terrifying speed". The article goes on to describe how a new vaccine and its affordability will lessen the severity of the problem. Experts estimate that it will save over 150,000 lives by 2015 across 25 countries. Because of funders like Bill Gates, the vaccine can be offered at about 50 cents per person, an extremely cheap price, considering that vaccination in the states can cost up to 100 dollars. Bill Gates comments on the vaccine and its affordability, saying: “All those [other vaccines] were created because rich people got sick. This is the first vaccine that went through the whole process where there was no rich world market, and it had to be optimized at a very low price.” As he indicates, this vaccination's affordability is really an innovation in health.
What I found most interesting about this article was how far vaccination has come in nearly 300 years. We studied the hesitancies that members of colonial Boston felt inoculating people against the smallpox epidemic in 1721. Now, people are being vaccinated against all kinds of diseases and vaccinations are saving peoples' lives. If the people of 1721 could see how important vaccination has become, there wouldn't have been nearly as much controversy over the subject!
Personally, I think that it must be an extreme relief for Africans to know that help is coming. Being unable to afford vaccination would be extremely frustrating- knowing there was something you could do to save your child or loved one from dying, but not being able to afford it would be awful. The affordability of this vaccine must be incredibly comforting- finally, one less thing to worry about on a continent where there is already so much else going on. From AIDs to genocides, Africa always seems to be dealing with disasters, and it is wonderful to see some hope.
Abby, this is a very uplifting and positive article. It is great news that vaccine is being provided to people who truly need it at such a low price. It seems that lots of people will be able to benefit from this new vaccine. I like how you used the quote about how vaccines were generally made when the rich got sick, which accounts for its high price, but now it is being provided for a poorer population and therefore the price is less. It is great that there is hope that there will be one less disaster occurring in Africa.
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ReplyDeleteAbby, I enjoyed reading your blog post and article. I did my blog post on a similar article about the Meningitis Vaccine in Africa so it was really interesting for me to see a new outlook on the vaccine and also learn some additional information. I think it is really important that the vaccine was not created with soley rich people in mind, because in a country like Africa, the poor people are the ones who are suffering the most. I also liked the way you connected the article to what we learned about smallpox vaccination because they two situations really are similar. Hopefully the vaccine will be effective and Africa will be able to overcome some of its hardships.
ReplyDeleteAbby this blog post was very interesting. I found it really intriguing that the vaccine was only 50 cents, all because of Bill Gates and other private investors. They obviously want to cure this deadly disease hopefully this helps.
ReplyDeleteAbby, I agree with what everyone has said before me. This article was so uplifting and amazing. To know that people who really need a vaccine like this will be able to get for only 50 cents is unreal. It is great how Bill Gates and other investors would do something like this when they could have just ignored the problem like so many people do.
ReplyDeleteAbby, I really enjoyed reading this article. I thought that it was very informative on how the people in Africa are suffering from illness. It's a shame to know that in the past, vaccinations have been so expensive that not everyone, especially in poor countries like these, could afford them. It's great to see that the vaccinations are 50 cents each. Like you said, a typicall vaccination in the United States can cost around 100 dollars, and not everyone can afford that.
ReplyDeleteIt's also great to see that such a large, wealthy figure like Bill Gates is heling out with this whole process and not just putting it aside. I think this shows something for all of us. That we all should help tohers who are in need of help. Espeically in situations like these.
I really like this blog post Abby, along with the others who clearly did too. I think it's great that these people who otherwise would have to live in fear of disease, can now receive the vaccination for only 50 cents. This is quite an impressive mark down from 100 dollars. I also think it says a lot about how lucky a lot of people are in America to be able to pay the full price for vaccinations, and many people overlook this. It is also nice to see Bill Gates supporting the cause, because as everyone knows, a big name can have a huge influence on the way a fundraiser goes.
ReplyDeleteAbby, I really enjoyed reading your post. It was nice to read about something positive happening in epidemic disease. I loved the point you made about this vaccine costing only 50 cents vs. our 100 dollar vaccines. It is great to see people like Bill Gates who have so much to give make such a difference. The African people really do deserve this vaccine, now maybe they can rest a little bit easier having one less disease to worry about.
ReplyDeleteI liked that this post was about good news, as opposed to most of these posts being about bad things. It's great that people like Bill Gates are lending a hand to help fund efforts to stop Meningitis. Like many others have said, finally we can give Africa some hope. Nice Post
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