Africa is home to 95pc of all malaria cases and 96pc of all malaria-related deaths. Children under five account for about 80pc of all malaria deaths in Africa.
Cameroon has kicked off the world’s first malaria vaccine campaign for children backed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
According to the UN health agency, cases of the mosquito-borne disease rose by around 5m in 2022 following disruptions in the fight against malaria caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The vaccination programme in Cameroon follows successful trials in Ghana and Kenya, making it the first of many countries scheduled to launch campaigns this year.
Malaria kills hundreds of thousands of people every year. Children and pregnant women are at high risk of severe infection. According to WHO stats, there were an estimated 247 million cases of malaria worldwide in 2021, with 619,000 deaths.
Moreover, Africa is home to 95pc of all malaria cases and 96pc of all malaria-related deaths. Children under five accounted for about 80pc of all malaria deaths in Africa.
The vaccine being rolled out in Cameroon starting today (22 January) is the RTS,S malaria vaccine, also known as Mosquirix, developed by pharma giant GSK. RTS,S was given a WHO recommendation nearly three years ago.
Last October, WHO recommended a new malaria vaccine that has shown high efficacy and can be rolled out at scale. Developed at the University of Oxford, the R21/Matrix-M vaccine is only the second malaria vaccine to be recommended by WHO after RTS,S.
“Both vaccines are shown to be safe and effective in preventing malaria in children and, when implemented broadly, are expected to have high public health impact,” WHO wrote in its announcement at the time.
“The vaccination will save lives,” Aurelia Nguyen, chief program officer at the Gavi vaccines alliance, told Time. “It will provide major relief to families and the country’s health system.”
Gavi, which is funding and helping Cameroon secure the shots, said that nearly 2m children at risk have been reached with the malaria vaccine across the three countries since 2019.
“The RTS,S malaria vaccine implementation has resulted in a substantial fall in severe malaria hospitalisations and a significant drop in child deaths – there was a 13pc drop in all-cause mortality (not just from malaria) from use of the vaccine,” the alliance wrote in a statement.
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