A health worker stands ready to administer a malaria vaccine to a baby in Malawi. Children up to the age of 4 in particular run a high risk of dying from malaria.Image Amos Gumulira / AFP
The first large-scale vaccination campaign against malaria, one of the deadliest diseases in the world, will start this month. In the coming years, 18 million doses of malaria vaccine will be delivered to twelve African countries. Since 2019, the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine has been administered as a pilot in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi. After four doses of the vaccine, the risk of becoming seriously ill is reduced by 40 percent. Additional measures are therefore still necessary, but a child’s life is saved for every 200 vaccines administered, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The demand is greater than the supply; the first vaccines are now going to countries where infant mortality is the highest.
More than half of the malaria patients who die are 4 years old or younger. In total, about 400,000 very young children die from the disease each year. Malaria is also particularly dangerous for pregnant women. During the corona pandemic, malaria mortality worldwide increased again after years of decline, partly due to logistical restrictions. For example, no mosquito nets impregnated with insecticide will be distributed in Botswana and Sierra Leone in 2021, which can greatly reduce the risk of infection.
In Nigeria and Ghana, hopes are also pinned on another vaccine, called R21. These countries already approved this drug before the WHO had given its blessing. The WHO wants to wait for a clinical trial, but hopes to be able to act quickly afterwards. R21 is said to provide 80 percent protection. This vaccine could make a big difference, especially in West Africa, where relatively most inhabitants die from malaria.
Read also
2023-07-17 03:00:47
#Largescale #vaccination #campaign #malaria #begins #twelve #African #countries
