Insights
Optimism and Urgency at Gates Foundation’s Malaria Forum
October 27, 2011
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- Optimism and Urgency at Gates Foundation...
Largely an afterthought in most parts of the world, malaria still claims nearly one million victims each year – most of them children. IV CEO and co-founder Nathan Myhrvold joined a panel of experts at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Malaria Forum last week to discuss the role epidemiological modeling can play in understanding and controlling this deadly disease. IV’s modeling work was also featured in Bill Gates’ keynote as one tool in the path forward toward malaria eradication.
From updates on a promising new vaccine to a recent report that showed malaria deaths on the decline, the forum offered ample reason for optimism. But one message was clear – innovation, urgency and perseverance are needed now more than ever to make malaria a thing of the past. We’re honored to be a part of this effort and were inspired by the brilliant people we met at the forum working on this important issue.
It was at the first Malaria Forum four years ago that IV was inspired to support malaria eradication with its unique expertise in invention. Since that time, we’ve raised more than a million mosquitoes to study methods for preventing the transmission of malaria, built one of the most sophisticated disease models in the world to improve eradication campaigns, and introduced a promising new technique for detecting the disease. We’ve also expanded our work beyond malaria with a device that could strengthen vaccination services in the developing world.
Science takes time and our work is just beginning, but we’re driven each day by the simple fact that invention saves lives. We’ll have more news about our work on this front in the coming year. In the meantime, we encourage inventors everywhere to consider how modern technology and old fashion ingenuity can improve the lives of others throughout the world.
