The world’s first systematic malaria vaccination scheme has been started in Cameroon, and it is expected to save the lives of tens of thousands of children annually throughout Africa.
The British pharmaceutical company, GSK, spent almost 40 years developing the RTS,S vaccine, which was authorised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and is intended to be used in conjunction with bed nets and other current instruments to fight malaria.
Malaria is a disease that kills almost 500,000 children under the age of five every year in Africa. According to international vaccination alliance Gavi, following successful trials conducted in Ghana and Kenya, Cameroon is the first nation to provide doses through a regular plan that 19 other nations want to implement this year.
Mohammed Abdulaziz of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at a joint online briefing with the WHO, Gavi and other organisations noted that a round 6.6 million children in these countries are targeted for malaria vaccination through 2024-25. “For a long time, we have been waiting for a day like this.”
Overall, the vaccine has garnered interest from more than 30 countries on the continent, and concerns about a shortage have subsided since a second vaccine last December passed a crucial regulatory milestone.
According to Kate O’Brien, the director of immunisation at the WHO, the introduction of the second vaccine “is expected to result in sufficient vaccine supply to meet the high demand and reach millions more children” during the briefing.
By 2026, 40–60 million doses of the malaria vaccine will be required annually, and by 2030, 80–100 million doses will be required, according to estimates from the WHO, UNICEF, and Gavi.
Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite. The parasite is spread to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes. In 2021, 96 percent of the world’s malaria deaths occurred in Africa.