2023-07-06 09:42:44
Twelve African countries are to receive a total of 18 million doses of a novel malaria vaccine over the next two years. This was announced by the World Health Organization (WHO), the vaccination alliance Gavi and the children’s charity Unicef on Wednesday in Geneva.
The organizations spoke of a decisive step in the fight against the tropical disease, which is one of the leading causes of death on the continent. At least 28 countries in Africa have expressed interest in the vaccine.
500.000
Kinder children under the age of five die from malaria about every year.
The vaccine had previously been administered to more than 1.7 million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi in a pilot project since 2019. According to the WHO, in the test phase it proved to be safe and effective and led to a significant reduction in serious illnesses and deaths in children.
The RTS,S agent developed by the British company GlaxoSmithKline fights the malaria pathogen before it penetrates the blood cells.
In addition to the three countries involved in the trial, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Niger, Sierra Leone and Uganda are to receive allocations of the drug. The contingents are to be delivered from the last quarter of this year and used as part of routine vaccinations from spring 2024.
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According to the WHO, almost half a million children under the age of five die every year from the infectious disease transmitted by mosquitoes. About 95 percent of all malaria cases worldwide and 96 percent of deaths occur in Africa.
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