2012 — Number 1 - ExxonMobil

Photo Getty Images, Inc.
athletes and politicians starred in
these public service announcements
reminding millions of
Africans to sleep under bed nets.
This effort was lauded by the
World Petroleum Congress and
the Global Business Coalition.
“Idol contestants and
judges also visited Saint
Isabel Orphanage and School
in Luanda, Angola, where
ExxonMobil provided grants
for screening, bed nets and
sanitation improvements,” says
Michael Finley, who coordinates
the company’s community
investments in Africa.
Supporting vaccine
development
One of the most promising
aspects of the funding is the
advancement of malaria vaccines.
Today, ExxonMobil supports
an initiative to fast-track
development of these vaccines,
with the goal of helping to make
sure they’re available in the developing
world.
Through the ExxonMobil
Malaria Vaccine Advocacy
Fellowship, malaria scientists
and clinicians from the United
States, Europe and Africa are
learning how to communicate
progress and challenges related
to vaccine development so
that life-saving vaccines can be
put to use as soon as they are
approved.
“We’re also funding studies
that look at where the malaria
transmission is the most intense.
Those could be the first places
where a vaccine will be used,”
Jones says.
“We’ve reached 60 million
people. But there’s more work to
be done, and we stand committed
to the fight,” he says. the Lamp
A hopeful future
The most clinically advanced malaria vaccine candidate in the world today is a drug called
RTS,S. Time and Science magazines heralded it as one of the Top 10 scientific breakthroughs
of 2011.
The RTS,S vaccine is now in its final stage of development, with more than 15,000 children
ages 5 through 17 participating in large-scale clinical trials in seven African countries. If
all goes as planned, the World Health Organization could release a policy recommending its
use by next year. If that happens, RTS,S would be the first vaccine ever developed to provide
immunity against a parasite.
That’s fantastic news for those who’ve been in the trenches for decades To learn more
working to combat the disease. “Dozens and dozens of vaccines have
exxonmobil.com/malaria
come through our portfolio, but this is the vaccine candidate that has
made it the farthest through the development process and with the best results,” says Sally
Ethelston, a PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative researcher involved in the drug’s development.
“While there’s more to do, RTS,S has cut the number of episodes of malaria by more than
half compared to a control vaccine. We’re optimistic.”
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