30.06.2011
Bill and Melinda Gates visited the Bagamoyo Branch of the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) in Tanzania
Bill and Melinda Gates visited on Wednesday 29 June the Bagamoyo Branch of the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI), a Tanzanian partner institution of Swiss TPH, and informed themselves about the ongoing projects, particularly the malaria research with focusing on the multi-centre Phase III trial on the currently most promising malaria vaccine candidate RTS.S which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI). 16000 children and infants in 11 African sites including IHI in Bagamoyo are enrolled in this vaccine trial.
Besides touring the Bagamoyo district hospital, the IHI premises, they also visited a dispensary as well as the homes of children enrolled in the RTS,S trial. The visit of Bill and Melinda Gates in Bagamoyo also allowed Swiss TPH Director Marcel Tanner to discuss the relation between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Swiss TPH.