Malaria, a disease caused by a parasite and transmitted by mosquitoes, represents a threat to almost 40% of the world´s population. The majority of cases and deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, where one child under 5 years of age dies every 30 seconds. As a result of the first World Malaria Day, held on 25th April 2008, UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, announced the launching of new drive to reinforce the goal of eradicating the disease from the African continent by the end of 2010. Among the tools to achieve this goal, he emphasised the importance of training medical staff in affected countries and encouraging research.

Among others, the strategic goals of the four award-winning institutions include biomedical research, the training of local personnel, medical care and institutional backing as tools to put an end to the relation between disease and poverty, thus contributing to the development of national and international public health.

The Manhiça Health Research Centre, in Mozambique, was founded in 1996 by the Spanish doctor, Pedro Alonso, who currently directs the centre together with his wife, Clara Menéndez. The main fields of action of this institute are Tanzania and Mozambique, while research focuses on fighting poverty-related disease and on human resources training in low-income countries with the aim of reducing morbidity and mortality in children and pregnant women. From Manhiça, Pedro Alonso has proven that the candidate malaria vaccine called RTSS/AS02A protected a significant number of children against light episodes of the disease, new infections and severe malaria for a period of at least six months. This clinical test carried out in Mozambique is the largest to be conducted so far in Africa and benefits from economic support from the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2006 Prince of Asturias Award Laureates for International Cooperation. Investor and philanthropist, Warren Buffet, donated 30,000 million dollars in shares to this Foundation in 2006.