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The World Health Organization has given its approval for the use of the malaria vaccine across Africa after the success of a pilot project.
The vaccine – called RTS, S – has been tested in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi as part of a vaccination exercise.
Today, the World Health Organization says the vaccination has been successful and should now be rolled out throughout sub-Saharan Africa and other regions, malaria transmission is high.
WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday it was “a historic moment”.
“The long-awaited malaria vaccine for children is a breakthrough for science, children’s health and the fight against malaria,” he said. “[It] could save tens of thousands of young lives every year.
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With the announcement, many people, especially children, could now be vaccinated against the deadly virus that has killed and continues to kill millions of people.
Dr Kwame Amponsa-Achiano, who piloted the vaccine in Ghana to assess whether mass vaccination was feasible and effective, told the BBC: “This is a pretty exciting time for us, with vaccination on a large scale, I think the malaria toll will be reduced to the bare minimum. . “
Constantly ill with malaria as a child inspired Dr Amponsa-Achiano to become a doctor in Ghana.
“It was distressing, almost every week you weren’t in school malaria has wreaked havoc on us for a long time,” he told the BBC.
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“It is gratifying to know that a malaria vaccine developed specifically for African children may soon be more widely available,” said Dr Nanthalile Mugala, head of PATH for the Africa region.
Mugala adds that “This is especially true now that progress in the fight against malaria has stalled in parts of the African region and children are at increased risk of dying from the disease.”
Malaria is spread by mosquitoes which bite victims by depositing a parasite that invades and destroys our blood cells in order to reproduce.
Interventions such as drugs and mosquito nets have all helped reduce malaria for years now.
In Africa, more than 260,000 children died from the disease in 2019, according to health experts.
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Source: Africafeeds.com
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