Malaria Vaccinations. "It's A Good Thing!"

By Rich Kozlovich

This week the American Council on Science and Health linked information dealing with a new product from GlaxoSmithKline that will give African children half a chance against malaria; the largest segment of the human population that suffers and dies from this plague.

During experimental trials of the vaccine called RTS,S or Mosquirix, it was found that the risk of contracting malaria was reduced by half. In a world where irrational and misanthropic environmentalists keep insisting that treated bed nets is "the" answer and that DDT must not be used under any circumstances, this at least gives these kids a fighting chance. The green activists are in the habit of claiming that their actions "are for the children", but mostly their policies end up be "to the children" not "for the children".

The article pointed out that this vaccine is in no way as effective as other vaccines for other afflictions, but this is a great benefit anyway. After anyone has read just how complex the malaria parasite really is, we have to be impressed with this kind of progress.

ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross made some comments that I find disturbing. He says; “And though the most effective anti-malarial therapy is a combination of artemisinin with other drugs (ACT), responses are often compromised due to a burgeoning market of counterfeit drugs in Africa.”

The ASCH article went on to say; "In fact, one study has found that 35 percent of malaria drugs in Nigeria are fakes." I am apalled at such a statistic. I know this kind of thing goes on, but I just can't imagine what kind of person would do such a thing.

Sproxil Inc. has implemented a "new text message-based program" where "large pharmaceutical companies have agreed to embed scratch-off panels on each of their drug packages. Customers can then text Sproxil with this number to confirm whether the drug is real or counterfeit."

Gil Ross goes on to say; “This is both an intriguing and modern way to deal with the very serious problem of counterfeit medications". We can only hope!

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