Twelve African countries across different regions are set to receive eighteen million doses of the first-ever malaria vaccine to help curb the parasite over the next two years, this was revealed by the Global Vaccine Alliance (GAVI), the World Health Organisation and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) on 6th June 2023. The statement noted that the allocations have been determined through the application of the principles outlined in the framework for allocation of limited malaria vaccine supply that prioritizes those doses to areas of highest need, where the risk of malaria illness and death among children are highest.
It was reported that the RTS,S/ AS01 vaccine certified safe by WHO had been administered to over 1.6 million children in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi since 2019, leading to a huge reduction in severe malaria and a fall in child deaths.
The WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said malaria remained one of Africa’s deadliest diseases, killing nearly half a million children under the age of five every year, and Africa accounted for approximately 96 percent of global malaria deaths in 2021.
“With the climate crisis changing weather patterns, mosquitoes that carry these diseases are increasing in density and spreading further afield,” Mr. Ghebreyesus said, speaking during his regular media briefing from Geneva.
The initial 18 million dose allocation will enable nine more African countries to introduce the vaccine into their routine immunization programs for the first time. Those nations include Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.
The first doses are expected to arrive during the last quarter of 2023, with rollout set to start by early 2024. “This vaccine has the potential to be very impactful in the fight against malaria, and when broadly deployed alongside other interventions, it can prevent tens of thousands of future deaths every year,” Thabani Maphosa, Managing Director of Country Programmes Delivery at Gavi, said.
The partners said at least 28 African countries have expressed interest in receiving the RTS,S vaccine, while a second malaria vaccine is currently under review for pre-qualification, and if successful provides additional supply in the short term.
