Kintampo Health Research Centre Wins Prestigious Award

The Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC) has received the 2008 Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation in recognition of the centre’s contribution in the ongoing effort to develop a vaccine against malaria and its work to better medical care in Ghana. The award was first announced in May this year. The Principal Investigators, Dr. Seth Owusu-Agyei, also Director of KHRC, and Dr. Kwaku Poku Asante received the award at a colourful ceremony in Oviedo, Spain recently

 Kintampo Health Research Centre and three other African institutions jointly won the award. The three others are The Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), in Mozambique, directed by Dr Pedro Alonso; The Ifakara Health Research and Development Centre (IHRDC), in Tanzania, directed by Dr. Hassan Mshinda; and The Malaria Research and Training Center, in Mali, directed by Professor Ogobara Doumbo.

The four health Institutions are part of a team working on clinical trials of a malaria vaccine, RTS, S, created in 1987 by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Biologicals, originally in collaboration with Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. In 2005, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a large grant to the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) to extend the public-private partnership between MVI and GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals to develop RTS,S for African children together with prominent African research institutions.

The Prince of Asturias Foundation awarded four health centres for encouraging research, achieving an effective vaccine and contributing to improvements in medical care in the countries in which they operate. The work of these organizations in the training of local staff for biomedical research and institutional backing in the fight against malaria was also valued by the Jury.

Dr. Owusu-Agyei, in reaction said the award is recognition of the work of scientists in Ghana. He said he was extremely proud of his staff