World’s First Malaria Vaccine Approved by WHO

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has given its approval for the use of the world’s first malaria vaccine

• Children across Africa are set to be vaccinated against the deadly disease which has killed millions across the continent

• The approval of the vaccine follows the completion of research and testing in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi since 2019

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the approval of the world’s first malaria vaccine.

The health body recommended that the vaccine be distributed to children across Africa to curb the spread of the parasitic disease.

The vaccine was approved following a meeting of the United Nations health agency’s vaccine advisory group and it was announced by WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in what he termed a “historic moment”.

“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…”

WHO disclosed that the decision to approve the vaccine was based on results from research in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi which had monitored over 800,000 children since 2019.

The malaria vaccine has been developed since 1987 by GlaxoSmithKline. It, however, has an efficacy of only 30%, requires up to four doses to be effective and the protection fades after months.

Considering the damaging effect of the parasitic disease in Africa, WHO believes that the burden could be lessened by the administration of the vaccine.

Read also: COVID 19 Pfizer Vaccine Effect Drops After 6 Months

Julian Rayner, director of the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research believes that it is worth a shot and can prevent the death of numerous children.

“It’s an imperfect vaccine, but it will still stop hundreds of thousands of children from dying.”

Naija FM will update as we get more information about the vaccine, including delivery and administration procedures.

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