Issue date: 9 October 2002

Malaria CD wins international award

Hot on the tail of sequencing the genome of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes the most deadly form of malaria, the Wellcome Trust has scooped another success in the battle against the disease by achieving an international award for its educational CD-ROM on malaria.

One of 12 CDs in the Trust's Topics in International Health series, the malaria CD-ROM has been awarded the Prix IAMS for 2002. Named after the International Association for Media in Science, the annual prize is awarded to the most innovative and informative multimedia product in the area of scientific, technical and medical multimedia publishing.

Commenting on the award, Jane Hogg, Head of the Trust's Publishing Group, said: "I am delighted with the award, which recognises the tremendous efforts of our multimedia designers and writers, and the malaria experts who collaborated with them.

"Malaria kills one child every 20 seconds so it is crucial that scientists continue their work to combat this disease. We must also aid this fight by providing healthcare and medical professionals with accurate and up to date information on the disease - this is central to reducing the burden of suffering. We hope our CD has helped people at the frontline of patient care by equipping them with essential facts on how to understand, identify, treat, control and ultimately prevent malaria."

Developed with the help of experts in the field of malaria research, the CD-ROM has a collection of 850 images and 13 interactive tutorials, including parasite biology, immunity, and diagnosis in children, which provide an invaluable insight into the disease and its treatment.

To date, the malaria CD-ROM has been used by more than 10,000 people in 70 countries around the world, with the majority of users working in developing countries, where malaria is endemic.

Media contact:

Noorece Ahmed
Wellcome Trust Media Office
Tel: 020 7611 8540
Email: n.ahmed@wellcome.ac.uk

Notes to editors:

1. In addition to the malaria CD-ROM, the Topics in International Health series includes: Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Acute Respiratory Infection, Diarrhoeal Diseases, HIV/AIDS, Leishmaniasis, Leprosy, Nutrition, Schistosomiasis, Sickle Cell Disease, Trachoma and Tuberculosis.

2. Copies of CD-ROMS from the series can be ordered from: CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon OX10 8DE. Tel: +44 (0)1491 832111, E-mail: orders@cabi.org

3. The sequencing of the Plasmodium falciparum genome appeared in Nature on 3 October 2002.

4. The Wellcome Trust is an independent research-funding charity established in 1936 under the will of tropical medicine pioneer Sir Henry Wellcome. The Trust's mission is to promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health.

5. Founded in 1992, the Paris-based International Association for Media in Science aims to 'encourage the production, documentation, preservation, distribution and use of audio-visual media and materials for the growth and communication of knowledge in the natural and human sciences, technology and medicine'. The Prix IAMS is awarded annually.

R21047
Image from Charlwood JD, Graves PM
Life cycle of Plasmodium species - the oocyst
In this image, a Plasmodium sp. oocyst can be seen on the outside of a mosquito stomach wall. It is old and ready to rupture. The stomach contains a recent blood meal.