Rwanda’s Ministry of Health has expressed delight as a ground-breaking malaria vaccine has been given a go-ahead by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for use among children under the age of 5. In a statement released on Wednesday, the WHO said it is recommending widespread use of the RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine among children in sub-Saharan Africa and in other regions with moderate to high P. falciparum malaria transmission. P. falciparum is the deadliest malaria parasite globally, and the most prevalent in Africa. WHO noted that the decision to recommend the vaccine is based on results from an ongoing pilot programme in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi that has reached more than 800,000 children since 2019. A child dies from #malaria every two minutes. One death is one too many. 🚨 Today, WHO recommends RTS,S, a groundbreaking malaria vaccine, to reduce child illness & deaths in areas with moderate and high malaria transmission https://t.co/xSk58nTIV1#VaccinesWork pic.twitter.com/mSECLtRhQs — World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) October 6, 2021 It has been used in pilot phases earlier, and the results from more than 2.3 million doses showed: it was safe and still led to a 30 per cent reduction in severe malaria, it reached more than two-thirds of children who dont have a bed-net to sleep under, and that there was no negative impact on other routine vaccines or other measures to prevent malaria. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General said the recommendation was a historic moment. “The long-awaited malaria vaccine for children is a breakthrough for science, child health and malaria control,” he said. “Using this vaccine on top of existing tools to prevent malaria could save tens of thousands of young lives each year,” he added. Speaking in an interview with the national broadcaster, Dr. Tharcisse Mpunga, Rwanda’s Minister of State in Charge of Primary Healthcare referred to the development as “a great and pleasant step in medicine.” “As you know, malaria is a disease that affects and kills many people in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially pregnant women and children under the age of 5,” he said. “This vaccine has been undergoing research for some time, and we believe that the results will be of good value in the fight against malaria,” he added. Malaria remains a primary cause of childhood illness and death in sub-Saharan Africa. More than 260 000 African children under the age of five die from malaria annually. In recent years, WHO and its partners have been reporting a stagnation in progress against the deadly disease. For centuries, malaria has stalked sub-Saharan Africa, causing immense personal suffering,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “We have long hoped for an effective malaria vaccine and now for the first time ever, we have such a vaccine recommended for widespread use,” she said, adding, “Today’s recommendation offers a glimmer of hope for the continent which shoulders the heaviest burden of the disease and we expect many more African children to be protected from malaria and grow into healthy adults.” The next steps for the WHO-recommended malaria vaccine will include funding decisions from the global health community for broader rollout, and country decision-making on whether to adopt the vaccine as part of national malaria control strategies.
