WHO announces 18 million doses of malaria vaccine, still deadly

2023-07-05 19:11:39

WHO, UNICEF and the Vaccine Alliance have announced the delivery of 18 million doses of malaria vaccine to 12 African countries until 2025.

Some 18 million doses of the first RTS,S malaria vaccine will be delivered to 12 African countries until 2025, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) announced on Wednesday.

“Malaria remains one of the deadliest diseases in Africa, where it kills almost half a million children under the age of 5 every year,” said WHO chief Dr Tedros. Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at a press conference.

In 2021, 96% of malaria deaths worldwide occurred in Africa.

The RTS,S vaccine – developed by British pharmaceutical group GSK – has already been given to more than 1.7 million children in three African countries – Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, as part of a pilot programme.

“Safe and effective”

“It has been shown to be safe and effective, leading to a substantial reduction in severe forms of malaria and a drop in child deaths,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Nearly 30 African countries have indicated they want to receive doses.

In addition to the three test countries, which will continue to receive doses, nine other countries will benefit from the doses, WHO, Unicef ​​and Gavi said in a statement.

These are Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Niger, Sierra Leone and Uganda.

The first vaccines are expected to arrive in the last quarter of 2023, to be deployed in early 2024.

Another vaccine “under review”

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pointed out that a second malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M developed by the University of Oxford and produced by the Serum Institute in India (SII), “is under review for prequalification by the WHO, a procedure to ensure that health products intended for supply to low-income countries are safe and effective.

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“It is very important to remember that almost every minute a child dies from malaria, and the introduction of the malaria vaccine is an important step forward” in the fight once morest the disease, said the director of the department of immunization and vaccines at the WHO, Kate O’Brien, at a press conference.

This first vaccine “is a step in the right direction, and it foreshadows the millions of doses that will be distributed in the future,” she said.

The WHO, UNICEF and Gavi estimate that the annual global demand for malaria vaccines is expected to be 40-60 million doses by 2026, and then between 80-100 million doses each year by 2030.

Malaria – a disease transmitted to humans through the bites of certain types of mosquitoes – caused the death of 619,000 people worldwide in 2021, according to the latest WHO figures.

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