所有疫苗都是爲了造福民衆

Ian Frazer has global ambitions.

伊恩•弗雷澤(Ian Frazer，右圖)懷有改變世界的抱負。

The co-inventor, with Jian Zhou, of the vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV), the precursor to cervical cancer, wants the treatment to reach as many people as possible.

作爲人乳頭狀瘤病毒(HPV)疫苗的共同發明人，弗雷澤希望儘可能讓更多人接種該疫苗。HPV病毒會引發宮頸癌，該疫苗的另一位共同發明人是中國科學家周健博士。

“All vaccines are for the public good,” says Prof Frazer. “You get the full value out of them only when they are effectively deployed across the planet.”

弗雷澤教授說：“所有疫苗都是爲了造福民衆。只有當這些疫苗真正在世界各地普及，它們的價值才能充分發揮出來。”

The HPV vaccines Gardasil and Cervarix, which were the result of more than 25 years of research by the two men, have already been administered to more than 125m people globally, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends the vaccine for women aged from nine to 25.

現在市面上有的佳達修(Gardasil)和卉妍康(Cervarix)兩種HPV疫苗，是這兩位科學家逾25年研究的成果。全世界接種這兩種HPV疫苗的人數已超過1.25億人，世界衛生組織(WHO)建議9到25歲的女性接種。

Australia has also introduced a government-funded vaccination programme for boys, after it recorded a sharp drop in the rate of genital warts linked to HPV since it began using the vaccine in girls, and a marked decline in the rate of high-grade cervical abnormalities in teenage girls.

澳大利亞自從開始爲女孩注射疫苗後，記錄顯示HPV引起的生殖器疣患病率大幅下降，並且少女出現宮頸細胞高度異常的比率明顯下降，於是出臺了一個爲男孩接種的計劃，由政府出資。

The University of Queensland, which holds the patents for the vaccine, has waived royalties for its sale in the developing world. About 85 per cent of all deaths from cervical cancer occur in low or middle-income countries, according to the WHO.

HPV疫苗專利持有者昆士蘭大學(University of Queensland)已放棄對在發展中國家銷售該疫苗要求使用費。根據世界衛生組織的數據，全球因子宮頸癌導致的死亡案例，有85%發生在中低收入國家。

“The drug has the potential to make a big difference in the developing world, where cervical cancer is common,” says Prof Frazer. “But we still have to make sure it gets there.”

弗雷澤教授說：“宮頸癌在發展中世界是常見病，這種藥物有可能極大地改變那裏的狀況。但我們眼下仍需首先確保那些地區能獲得這些疫苗。”

Dr Zhou, a Cambridge immunologist who paved the way for the vaccine by cloning HPV surface proteins on to a separate virus that served as a template, died at the age of 42, before the vaccine could come to market. His wife, Dr Xiao-Yi Sun, who worked as Dr Zhou’s assistant, remembers those years well.

劍橋大學(Cambridge)免疫學家周健博士通過將HPV表面蛋白克隆到一個作爲模板的病毒樣顆粒上，爲HPV疫苗的發明鋪平了道路。然而未等到HPV疫苗能夠投放市場，周健博士猝然離世，年僅42歲。周健博士的妻子孫小依博士曾擔任他的助手，她對那些歲月曆歷在目。

“Jian and Ian would often leave the lab only to go home, shower and change their clothes and grab a couple of hours sleep. In those days, we were all much younger, determined and singularly focused on finding the answer.”

“周健和伊恩整天都待在實驗室裏，通常只是爲了回家洗個澡，換身衣服，抓緊時間睡上幾個小時才離開。那些日子我們還很年輕，一心一意地執著地想找到答案。”

Dr Sun says that Dr Zhou, a modest man, tended to look for the nearest exit at black tie events celebrating scientific achievement, but he would have been happy to have prevented the premature deaths of so many women.

孫小依博士說周健博士爲人謙遜，他在出席慶祝科學成就的正裝活動時往往會尋找最近的出口離開。如果他知道自己預防了那麼多女性過早死亡，一定會非常高興。

Prof Frazer continues his research as director of the Translational Research Institute in Australia. His therapeutic vaccine for patients already diagnosed with HPV is currently in human trials.

作爲澳大利亞轉化醫學研究所(Translational Research Institute)的所長，弗雷澤教授繼續着他的研究。他所研發的針對已確診HPV患者的治療性疫苗目前已進入臨牀試驗階段。

“We recognise that research is a long- haul game — you do it for your children. Twenty years development time for the cervical cancer vaccine is about normal for most new treatments, particularly for vaccines where you have to be really sure the vaccine is going to be safe.”

“我們知道研究是漫漫長路，搞研究是爲了造福子孫。對於大多數新的治療手段，尤其是必須絕對確保安全的疫苗而言，宮頸癌疫苗的二十年研發時間是基本正常的。”

This can be a challenge for scientists and for governments in terms of resource allocation, as they tend to be influenced by short-term electoral cycles, he says.

弗雷澤說，這對科學家可能是個挑戰，從資源配置角度來講對各國政府也是個挑戰，因爲政府往往受到短期選舉週期的影響。

Prof Frazer and Dr Zhou won the popular prize — via an online public vote — in the European Inventor Award.

經過網上公開投票，弗雷澤教授和周健博士獲得了歐洲發明獎(European Inventor Award)“最受歡迎發明獎”。