所有疫苗都是为了造福民众

Ian Frazer has global ambitions.

伊恩•弗雷泽(Ian Frazer，右图)怀有改变世界的抱负。

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.

作为人乳头状瘤病毒(HPV)疫苗的共同发明人，弗雷泽希望尽可能让更多人接种该疫苗。HPV病毒会引发宫颈癌，该疫苗的另一位共同发明人是中国科学家周健博士。

“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.”

弗雷泽教授说：“所有疫苗都是为了造福民众。只有当这些疫苗真正在世界各地普及，它们的价值才能充分发挥出来。”

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.

现在市面上有的佳达修(Gardasil)和卉妍康(Cervarix)两种HPV疫苗，是这两位科学家逾25年研究的成果。全世界接种这两种HPV疫苗的人数已超过1.25亿人，世界卫生组织(WHO)建议9到25岁的女性接种。

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.

澳大利亚自从开始为女孩注射疫苗后，记录显示HPV引起的生殖器疣患病率大幅下降，并且少女出现宫颈细胞高度异常的比率明显下降，于是出台了一个为男孩接种的计划，由政府出资。

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疫苗专利持有者昆士兰大学(University of Queensland)已放弃对在发展中国家销售该疫苗要求使用费。根据世界卫生组织的数据，全球因子宫颈癌导致的死亡案例，有85%发生在中低收入国家。

“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.”

弗雷泽教授说：“宫颈癌在发展中世界是常见病，这种药物有可能极大地改变那里的状况。但我们眼下仍需首先确保那些地区能获得这些疫苗。”

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.

剑桥大学(Cambridge)免疫学家周健博士通过将HPV表面蛋白克隆到一个作为模板的病毒样颗粒上，为HPV疫苗的发明铺平了道路。然而未等到HPV疫苗能够投放市场，周健博士猝然离世，年仅42岁。周健博士的妻子孙小依博士曾担任他的助手，她对那些岁月历历在目。

“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实验室里，通常只是为了回家洗个澡，换身衣服，抓紧时间睡上几个小时才离开。那些日子我们还很年轻，一心一意地执著地想找到答案。”

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.

孙小依博士说周健博士为人谦逊，他在出席庆祝科学成就的正装活动时往往会寻找最近的出口离开。如果他知道自己预防了那么多女性过早死亡，一定会非常高兴。

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.

作为澳大利亚转化医学研究所(Translational Research Institute)的所长，弗雷泽教授继续着他的研究。他所研发的针对已确诊HPV患者的治疗性疫苗目前已进入临床试验阶段。

“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.”

“我们知道研究是漫漫长路，搞研究是为了造福子孙。对于大多数新的治疗手段，尤其是必须绝对确保安全的疫苗而言，宫颈癌疫苗的二十年研发时间是基本正常的。”

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.

弗雷泽说，这对科学家可能是个挑战，从资源配置角度来讲对各国政府也是个挑战，因为政府往往受到短期选举周期的影响。

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

经过网上公开投票，弗雷泽教授和周健博士获得了欧洲发明奖(European Inventor Award)“最受欢迎发明奖”。