News Release

Gates charity backs bid to cut 2 million pneumonia death toll

Grant and Award Announcement

University of Edinburgh

British researchers are to work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help combat childhood pneumonia - the largest single cause of deaths in children worldwide.

The team at the University of Edinburgh has been awarded $2 million from the Foundation to help them invest in tackling the condition, which causes two million deaths each year in under-fives.

Mathematicians will work with doctors to develop a system for predicting the effectiveness of new prevention strategies and treatments, which will help to prioritise the approaches that save most lives.

Deaths from pneumonia - more than any other major childhood disease - affect mainly underprivileged and poor children who have limited access to adequate health care.

Investment to create low-cost strategies within developing countries could mean may of these deaths are avoided.

Professor Harry Campbell, of the University's School of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, said: "Childhood pneumonia affects millions of poor and underprivileged families around the world every year. But solving a problem like this takes hard work and hard choices. We need to know which strategies work best and where investment will make the greatest difference.

"We are delighted to work with the Gates Foundation to help them prioritise the most effective treatment solutions. By acting now and acting together we could have a great impact on childhood disease."

Dr Igor Rudan, co-leader of the project, said: "After many years of hard and dedicated work, it is rewarding that the Gates Foundation has recognised Edinburgh's leading research in this field."

The three-year project will be carried out in collaboration with scientists from John Hopkins University in the USA, the Medical Research Council in South Africa, the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative in Switzerland and Croatian Centre for Global Health.

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