Nobel
medicine prize for new tools to kill parasites
Three
scientists from the United States, Japan and China won the 2015 Nobel Prize in
medicine on Monday for discovering drugs to fight malaria and other tropical
diseases that affect hundreds of millions of people every year. The
Nobel judges in Stockholm awarded the prestigious prize to William Campbell, an
Irish-born US citizen, Satoshi Omura of Japan and Tu Youyou - the first-ever
Chinese medicine laureate. Campbell and Omura were cited for discovering
avermectin, derivatives of which have helped lower the incidence of river
blindness and lymphatic filariasis, two diseases caused by parasitic worms that
affect millions of people in Africa and Asia. Tu discovered artemisinin,
a drug that has helped significantly reduce the mortality rates of malaria
patients.
``The
two discoveries have provided humankind with powerful new means to combat these
debilitating diseases that affect hundreds of millions of people annually,''
the committee said. ``The consequences in terms of improved human health and
reduced suffering are immensurable.'' River blindness is an eye and skin
disease that ultimately leads to blindness. About 90 percent of the disease
occurs in Africa, according to the World Health Organization. Lymphatic
filariasis can lead to swelling of the limbs and genitals, called
elephantiasis, and it's primarily a threat in Africa and Asia. The WHO says 120
million people are infected with the disease, without about 40 million
disfigured and incapacitated. (Source: AP)
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