Because of the rotavirus Ruth Bishop found in Melbourne babies in 1973:
- 10,000 Australian kids won’t go to hospital this year
- half a million young lives could be saved every year as the Gates Foundation and GAVI roll out rotavirus vaccines to the world’s poorest 30 countries by 2015
- her new Australian rotavirus vaccine is being trialled in New Zealand and Indonesia with the support of the Gates Foundation.
She’s the Australian medical hero that most Australians haven’t heard of. She’s a quiet Melburnian now in her eighties.
And more prizes
This Wednesday is the Prime Minister’s first major science event: the 2013 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science.
The Prime Minister will present his first science prizes at a black-tie dinner this Wednesday evening in the Great Hall, Parliament House, Canberra.
This year’s winners of the $500,000 in prizes are from Perth, Townsville, Sydney and Melbourne.
There are opportunities for media to meet them on embargo
- in Townsville this morning at 9 am
- in Melbourne tomorrow morning at 9.30 am
- in Sydney today and tomorrow by appointment
- in Canberra at 12 noon, Wednesday, in the Great Hall, Parliament House.
Embargoed media pages with profiles, photos and videos at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/prime-ministers-prize
But we can only give you access to those pages if you’re working media and require access to hit a publication deadline. For more information contact me at niall@scienceinpublic.com.au, 03 9398 1416 or 0417 131 977.
Saving young lives by the million wins national honour for Ruth Bishop
Embargoed to 6 pm, Monday 28 October 2013
Because of the rotavirus Ruth found in Melbourne babies in 1973:
- 10,000 Australian kids won’t go to hospital this year
- half a million young lives could be saved every year as the Gates Foundation and GAVI roll out rotavirus vaccines to the world’s poorest 30 countries by 2015
- a new Australian rotavirus vaccine is being trialled in New Zealand and Indonesia.
Media call 10 am in Melbourne at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Children’s Hospital
Presentation 8.30 pm in Canberra at the Mural Hall, Parliament House
HD Australian and international vision available
In 1973, Ruth Bishop, Brian Ruck, Geoffrey Davidson and Ian Holmes at the Royal Children’s Hospital and the University of Melbourne’s microbiology department found a virus, now known as rotavirus. They showed it was the cause of an acute gastroenteritis that was hospitalising 10,000 Australian children every year and killing more than half a million children worldwide.
The discovery initiated a life’s work for Ruth-understanding the virus, working out how it spreads and fighting back with treatments and vaccines, advising WHO and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As a result, vaccination against “gastro” has been part of the National Immunisation Program for all Australian infants since July 2007. And the number of hospital admissions has dropped by more than 70 per cent.
By 2015, 50 million children in the poorest countries will be vaccinated by GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, and their partners, supported by the Gates Foundation. Figures available from Bolivia, the first low-income country to take part in the program, show a drop of about three-quarters of all hospitalisations.
Ruth is now in her eighties, and an Esteemed Honorary Fellow at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute. She won’t be fully satisfied until a new vaccine they’re developing becomes available. It’s intended for newborns, “the only time children in many developing countries are likely to be near a hospital,” she says. The vaccine is currently being trialled in Indonesia and New Zealand.
For her work in saving the lives of young children worldwide and inspiring a revolution in public health, Professor Ruth Bishop AO has won the 2013 CSL Florey Medal, a $50,000 biennial award. The medal honours Australian researchers who have made significant achievements in biomedical science and/or in advancing human health.
The medal has been presented every two years since 1998 by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS). It’s been supported by CSL since 2007.