Apart from the pneumococcal vaccine that protects against pneumonia, one against malaria that is still being tested. Dr. Mpoke tellsDEA'sSCIENCE WRITERabout other research being undertaken

DEA: Now, the ordinary man in the streets would not know what the pneumococcal vaccine is supposed to prevent. It’s vaccination against what?

DR. MPOKE: This is against pneumococcal infections which cause significant mortality among children. Such infections if not prevented or treated early will lead to death or complications later on, including predisposal to other life threatening illnesses. It becomes very cheap to prevent death and control all these other illnesses by giving the vaccine.

DEA:  So, you now wish that you had more effectively used that occasion to explain to the public exactly how this invention is helping very many people?

DR. MPOKE: Yes, but we missed out on that. Another important clinical trial currently being conducted is that of a malaria vaccine. Clinical trials testing a very promising malaria vaccine, named RTS, S, is ongoing in 11 sites across seven different African countries. Three of the 11 sites where this vaccine is being tried are in Kenya, and the three sites are all in KEMRI. The fact that KEMRI has a lion share of participation in this trial is testimony that we have a robust infrastructure to conduct clinical trials of such significance. It is confidence in the capacity of the institution, and also in the people that are running the particular vaccine trials.

WYCLIFFE:  So you are right at the frontline of this?

DR. MPOKE: We are right at the frontline. Everybody is looking up to us to see how our results will turn out. We are even ahead of the other centres right now in terms of recruitment of the children to participate in the vaccine trial. If the vaccine is shown to be efficacious, even it is only by 40 per cent, it will mean a significant reduction in the number of deaths due to malaria.

DEA: If I may ask: Which is the biggest killer of children under five? Is it Malaria or water-borne diseases?

DR. MPOKE: Malaria.

DEA:  It kills more children?

DR. MPOKE: It kills quite a number of children, and this vaccine is therefore expected to save the lives of these children. I’m hopeful KEMRI’s role in this trial will be fully appreciated when the results are finally announced.

Now look at yet another area – that of  climate change. Climate change is now a subject of international interest. We are seeing prolonged droughts, the El-Ninos and La Ninas, the Tsunamis in Japan, and general global warming. KEMRI has a very strong unit on Climate Change. Climate change is changing the dynamics of diseases. For example, malaria is now prevalent in certain areas where before it was never endemic. Our scientists have developed a model where you can take advantage of climatic changes to predict malaria epidemics.

DEA:  Where it’s likely to erupt?

DR. MPOKE: Yes, Where it is likely to erupt. And you can even do this with a very good reasonable lead time

DEA:  So that you can take steps to stop it?

DR. MPOKE:  You can mount prevention methods. You will have up to three months to do this. This is a model about which we have sensitised the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation and the Ministry of Medical Services about, and hope it will be adopted soon.

DEA:  Not yet adopted?

DR. MPOKE: Not yet. This is despite having disseminated the model widely including through a number of workshops with stakeholders from several regional countries. We have made significant contributions towards providing solutions to the health problems of this country, but these may not be well known. In fact, one of the scientists spearheading this work was a member of the Climate Change Committee that was awarded a Nobel prize.

DEA: There was a Kenyan on that committee?

DR. MPOKE:  Yes, there was a Kenyan

DEA:  From KEMRI?

DR. MPOKE: Yes, from KEMRI.

DEA: Is that so?

DR. MPOKE: Yes

DEA:  Did he also go to Sweden or Norway where you go to collect your prize?

DR. MPOKE:  The Committee members did not. But they were represented by one member of the committee

DEA: No you’re right. It’s always one representative. You see like when Amnesty International won the Nobel Peace Prize, only the Director went but it’s for work done all over the world. And in fact that’s one of the things which really brought them up to the forefront.

DR. MPOKE: Exactly

DEA: But you would agree that the tool exists in the form of this predictive model in places where malaria is likely to show up unexpectedly, and the day the government recognises the need it can be used?

DR. MPOKE: Yes

DEA  So you’ve already found one of the tools needed to fight disease in the age of global warming.

DR. MPOKE: That’s right

DEA: That’s a giant step

DR. MPOKE: You are right