A new malaria vaccine has thus far shown progress after undergoing trials in seven African countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Ghana and Mozambique, among others.According to the Director General of the Malaria Unit at Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Dr Corine Karema, after the interim results from the third phase, which is also the first one among human beings, the vaccine dubbed RTSS has shown good results as a shield against clinical and severe malaria.The vaccine enables the immune system to defend against the plasmodium falciparum parasite when it first enters the host’s blood stream. The parasite also accounts for a big percentage of malaria cases in Rwanda.Dr. Karema said that the vaccine had provided protection of up to 50 per cent among all reported malaria cases in the seven countries during the trials.She, however, observed that Rwanda is yet to decide on whether the vaccine should be introduced in the country.“Currently, Rwanda has no malaria vaccine and we are not yet decided on whether we should consider having the RTSS vaccine. At the moment, we are doing well in the prevention of malaria through the high coverage of insecticide treated mosquito nets,” Karema stated.The vaccine is supposed to be tested in four phases with the last one ending in 2014, after which it can be utilised if endorsed.A technical team has been set up to discuss what elements should be looked out for and assess the cost on top of other issues to determine whether Rwanda really needs the vaccine.Karema stated that Rwanda has had a drop of more than 70 per cent in malaria cases, stressing that 82 per cent of all households in the country use mosquito nets. According to the 2010 statistics, over 222,000 malaria cases and 380 deaths were registered.Minister of Health, Dr Agnes Binagwaho, expressed the need for more discipline in malaria prevention, pointing out that some people disregard the use of mosquito nets, which is likely to lead to a high morbidity rate of the disease.She called upon the public to make good use of the mosquito nets to avoid contracting malaria.
