Prize-Winning Cuban Scientist Denied Visa - Yahoo! News: "'It's incomprehensible that a civilized nation can confuse someone who has dedicated his life to saving the lives of children with someone who goes against the interests of the United States,' Verez-Bencomo said with a sigh. 'I wasn't going there to talk about politics, I was going to talk about science.'
Verez-Bencomo led a team that developed a vaccine for Haemophilus influenza type B, also known as Hib, a bacteria that causes meningitis and pneumonia. The diseases kill up to 700,000 children worldwide each year.
Before the development of a similar vaccine more than a decade ago, Hib was the biggest cause of meningitis among infants in the United States. That earlier vaccine has all but stamped out the disease in the western world, but mass immunizations are too expensive for many poor countries.
The synthetic vaccine created by Verez-Bencomo's team can be produced at a relatively low cost because antigens don't have to be grown in a bacterial culture, making it an attractive alternative for poorer nations.
So far more than 1 million doses have been administered to Cubans. Science Magazine last month said the vaccine 'may someday save millions of lives.'"
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