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The world's first malaria vaccination program has been launched in Malawi, southern Africa, to protect children from mosquito-borne disease.
The World Health Organization announced Tuesday that it had begun vaccinating children aged two and under in Malawi as part of a large-scale pilot project.
The WHO says it has taken at least 30 years for a large British pharmaceutical company and others to develop the vaccine. It indicates that the vaccine has prevented almost four out of 10 cases of malaria during clinical trials.
Infectious disease transmitted by mosquito bites kills at least 400,000 people a year worldwide, mainly in Africa.
No effective vaccine was available until now and existing prevention measures included the use of mosquito nets.
A WHO official said the vaccine could not fully protect against malaria, but that it could potentially save many lives.
WHO plans to soon deploy immunization in Kenya and Ghana. It aims to vaccinate around 360,000 children each year in the three countries.
The WHO announced that it would collect data on the effectiveness of the program before deciding whether or not to recommend vaccination to countries affected by the disease.
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