African and the world at large may now breath easy from malaria as the first-ever vaccine for combating the disease has been launched in Malawi on Tuesday.
This puts the South Eastern African nation as the first of three Africa countries in which the vaccine will be made available. Ghana and Kenya will follow suit in introducing the vaccine in the coming weeks.
The Vaccine which is known as RTS, S, will help cater for the well over 200,000 children, up to 2 years of age; that dies from the disease yearly.
“We have seen tremendous gains from bed nets and other measures to control malaria in the last 15 years, but progress has stalled and even reversed in some areas”, said Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General, of WorldHealth Organization (WHO).
“We need new solutions to get the malaria response back on track, and this vaccine gives us a promising tool to get there,” he noted. “The malaria vaccine has the potential to save tens of thousands of children’s lives.”
According to the WHO, malaria remains one of the world’s leading killers, claiming the life of one child every two minutes, with most of these deaths happening in Africa—The world’s second largest continent.
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On a global scale, malaria kills 435 000 people a year, most of them are children under the age of five who are exposed to a greater risk of its life-threatening complications.
RTS, S is a scientific name given to the malaria vaccine and represents its composition; the ‘R’ stands for the central repeat region of Plasmodium (P.) falciparum circumsporozoite protein (CSP); ‘T’ for the T-cell epitopes of the CSP; and the‘S’ for hepatitis B surface antigen(HBsAg).
According to WHO, the vaccine, RTS, S is an innovation milestone of three decades in development.
“Thirty years in the making, RTS, S is the first and to date, the only, vaccine that has demonstrated it can significantly reduce malaria in children.
“In clinical trials, the vaccine was found to prevent approximately four in 10 malaria cases, including three in 10 cases of life-threatening severe malaria,’’ a WHO statement said.
Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, explained that Malaria has been a constant threat in the African communities where the vaccine will be given. “The poorest children suffer the most and are at highest risk of death”.
“We know the power of vaccines to prevent killer diseases and reach children, including those who may not have immediate access to the doctors, nurses and health facilities they need to save them when severe illness comes.
“This is a day to celebrate as we begin to learn more about what this tool can do to change the trajectory of malaria through childhood vaccination,” Moeti said.
The pilot programme is designed to generate evidence and experience to inform WHO policy recommendations on the broader use of the RTS, S malaria vaccine. It will also look at reductions in child deaths; vaccine uptake, including whether parents bring their children on time for the four required doses; and vaccine safety in the context of routine use.
The vaccine will be a complementary malaria control tool – to be added to the core package of WHO-recommended measures for malaria prevention, including the routine use of insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor spraying with insecticides, and the timely use of malaria testing and treatment.
