18 million doses of first-ever malaria vaccine allocated to 12 African countries
GOOBJOOG NEWS: Twelve countries across different regions in Africa are set to receive 18 million doses of the first-ever malaria vaccine over the next two years.
The roll out is a critical step forward in the fight against one of the leading causes of death in the continent.
According to the Global vaccine Alliance (GAVI), the roll out which now expands access to the shots to nine new countries in the region, is a critical step forward in the fight against one of the leading causes of death in the continent.
Thabani Maphosa, Managing Director of Country Programmes Delivery at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance notes that the vaccine has the potential to be very impactful in the fight against malaria, and that when broadly deployed alongside other interventions, it can prevent tens of thousands of future deaths every year.
“While we work with manufacturers to help ramp up supply, we need to make sure the doses that we do have are used as effectively as possible, which means applying all the learnings from our pilot programmes as we broaden out to a new total of 12 countries.”
According to the UNICEF Associate Director of Immunization Ephrem T Lemango, Malaria kills nearly half a million children each year under the age of 5, and accounts for approximately 95% of global malaria cases and 96% of deaths in 2021.
“Nearly every minute, a child under 5 years old dies of malaria. For a long time, these deaths have been preventable and treatable; but the roll-out of this vaccine will give children, especially in Africa, an even better chance at surviving. As supply increases, we hope even more children can benefit from this life-saving advancement.”
Improved child health
Dr Kate O’Brien, WHO Director of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals observes the malaria vaccine is a breakthrough to improve child health and child survival; and that families and communities, rightly, want this vaccine for their children.
“This first allocation of malaria vaccine doses is prioritised for children at highest risk of dying of malaria. The high demand for the vaccine and the strong reach of childhood immunisation will increase equity in access to malaria prevention and save many young lives. We will work tirelessly to increase supply until all children at risk have access.”
Ghana, Kenya and Malawi have been receiving the RTS,S vaccine since 2019 as part of a pilot program funded by GAVI and more than 1.7 million children in the countries have been dosed with it, GAVI, UNICEF and the WHO said in a joint statement.
The nine new countries set to receive the vaccine, developed by British drugmaker GSK (GSK.L), are Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Niger, Sierra Leone and Uganda.
The first doses of the RTS,S vaccine are expected to reach the 12 African countries during the last quarter of 2023, allowing them to start rolling out by early next year.
- By Fauxile Kibet