By Princess-Ekwi Ajide, Abuja
World Health Organization, WHO, has said their first recommended malaria vaccine to prevent malaria in children (also known as RTS,S) is saving lives.
A WHO-coordinated pilot programme in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, where nearly 1.5 million children received the vaccine, there is a substantial decrease in hospitalizations for severe malaria and a drop in child deaths
According to WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, we can now save millions of lives each year from sickness and death caused by malaria following novel progress towards eliminating the disease.
Dr. Moeti, who was speaking in a press briefing to mark the 2023 World Malaria Day, said, because of the joint actions by malaria-affected countries and partners, malaria deaths decreased in 2021 compared to 2020 despite the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Regional Director said, a solid national-level commitment was demonstrated despite the pandemic and led to many successes including the distribution of about 75% of the planned 171 million insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs).
The seasonal malaria preventive treatment was further expanded, reaching nearly 45 million children in 15 African countries, a significant increase from 33.4 million in 2020, while malaria testing and treatment services were maintained.
Dr. Moeti said more than 1.6 billion malaria cases and 11 million malaria deaths were averted in the WHO African Region from 2000-2021 even though Malaria as a stubborn public health enemy killed 619,000 people, in 2021 of whom approximately 96% lived in Africa.
She cautioned that it is 6-20 times more likely to spread in mosquito-prone environments than the Omicron variant of sars-cov-2.
At least 28 countries in Africa have expressed interest in introducing the vaccine, with some additional countries to start in early 2024.
The unprecedented demand for the first malaria vaccine is considered an opportunity to bring children back to clinics to catch up on missed vaccines and child health interventions – including reinforcing the need for children to sleep under ITNs every night.
It is critically important to deliver this vaccine to children at risk: WHO, Gavi, UNICEF, and other partners are working to increase supply as rapidly as possible to protect more vulnerable children and save more lives.
She called on Member States to keep malaria high on their agendas as they allocate resources to health as there is a great need to increase the number and efficacy of control tools and strategies so that interventions can have a greater impact.
The 16th World Malaria Day with the theme: “Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, implement.” indicates that this is an appropriate time to take stock of malaria’s devastating impact on people’s lives and economic development in Africa.
