A Global Agenda for Typhoid Control - A Perspective from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Recognizing that enteric fever disproportionately affects the poorest and the most vulnerable communities that have limited access to improved sanitation, safe water sources, and optimal medical care, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has funded efforts to augment global understanding of the disease since the foundation's inception. At the turn of the century, early efforts focused on characterizing the burden of disease in Asia and evaluating use of the available Vi-polysaccharide vaccines through the Diseases of the Most Impoverished projects at the International Vaccine Institute (IVI). More recent efforts have centered on supporting development of typhoid conjugate vaccines and expanding disease surveillance efforts into Africa, as well as generating a greater understanding of the clinical severity and sequelae of enteric fever in Africa, Asia, and India. The Typhoid Vaccine Accelerator Consortium is playing a critical role in coordinating these and other global efforts for the control of typhoid fever. Here, we outline the scope of support and strategic view of the foundation and describe how, by working through strong partnerships, we can realize a radical reduction of the significance of enteric fever as a global public health problem in the next 10 to 15 years.