Children in Cameroon will now have access to vaccinations to protect against malaria, one of Africa’s deadliest diseases.
More than 600,000 of the 249 million people infected with malaria (new window) According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the majority of global deaths in 2022 occurred in Africa. Children under the age of five are among those most at risk.
On Monday, the world’s first malaria vaccine, known as RTS,S, began its rollout for routine immunization in Africa following approval by the WHO in 2021. Vaccine trials were conducted in Ghana, Malawi and Kenya.
This is a major step forward in our collective efforts to save children’s lives and reduce the burden of malaria.
Andrew Jones, chief advisor for UNICEF’s Vaccine Center for Supply, said this at a press conference from Copenhagen.
Infants and other children under five in Cameroon wake up first to be vaccinated.
The entire community is excited to finally have a new tool to fight malaria.
says Mbianke Libancliffe of Value Health Africa in Yaounde.
View | Expectations for malaria vaccine:
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Malaria is a “scourge” for Cameroon.New vaccines are a source of hope, says this professor
Wilfred von Mbacham, professor of public health biotechnology at the University of Yaoundé, says the new malaria vaccine is a much-needed tool in Cameroon’s fight against malaria.
Wilfred von Mbacham, a professor of public health biotechnology at the University of Yaounde, said one of his earliest memories was his first bout of malaria.
One of the reasons I couldn’t go to school was because of a malaria attack that left me with muscle pain, headaches, and fatigue.
He said.
we were afraid of getting sick [with] I have malaria and am being treated with chloroquine.
He said it caused severe itching. Current drugs have fewer side effects, he added.
Dr. Dorothy Achu, WHO Team Leader for Tropical and Vector-Borne Diseases at the Africa Regional Office in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, said malaria cases in Africa are decreasing but are still lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that it remains high. public health has not fully recovered from the interruption of service;
meet demand
In the malaria community, we always say there is no silver bullet.
Haachu said.
Doctors therefore say vaccination campaigns alone will not be enough to stop the outbreak, and that measures such as insecticide-treated bed nets must also continue.
John Johnson, vaccine and epidemic preparedness expert at Médecins Sans Frontières in Paris, said malaria is the most important disease the organization treats in all its programs.
Mr Johnson called the development big news, noting that RTS,S is the first vaccine against the parasite.
But Mr Johnson also warned that given the low uptake of routine childhood immunizations against diseases such as measles and yellow fever, it could be difficult to get the three doses needed.
I think it will take a lot of support, guidance and effort from countries and partners to ensure that it is a success.
said Johnson, a medical practitioner who is not involved in the campaign.
Public health experts say the second approved malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix M, developed by the University of Oxford in collaboration with the Serum Institute of India, will also be rolled out in Africa later this year. There is.
Two vaccines against malaria could help bridge the huge gap between supply and demand and save tens of thousands of young lives, especially in Africa.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a meeting of the UN agency’s executive board.
Both RTS,S and R21 act against Plasmodium falciparum, a malaria parasite common on the African continent.
Amina Zafar (new window) ・CBC News
