Nobel prize in medicine goes to pioneers in parasitic diseases

Baku. 5 October. REPORT.AZ/ Three scientists from Ireland, Japan and China won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discoveries that helped doctors fight malaria and infections caused by roundworm parasites.

The Nobel judges in Stockholm awarded the prestigious prize to Irish-born William Campbell, Satoshi Omura from Japan and Tu Youyou - the first ever Chinese medicine laureate.

Campbell and Omura were cited for discovering a drug that has helped lower the incidence of river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, two diseases caused by parasitic worms.

Tu discovered a drug that has helped significantly reduce the mortality rates of malaria patients.

"The two discoveries have provided humankind with powerful new means to combat these debilitating diseases that affect hundreds of millions of people annually," the committee said. "The consequences in terms of improved human health and reduced suffering are immensurable."