Explainer: First Malaria vaccine for children approved by the World Health Organization
(AP Photo/Jerome Delay, file)
The World Health Organization now recommends the widespread use of the RTS, S/AS01 malaria vaccine, among children in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions with moderate to high malaria transmission.
Malaria, a disease transmitted by mosquitoes, claimed between 150 million to 300 million lives during the 20th century. The disease was first discovered in 1880, and the quest for a malaria vaccine has been underway for nearly 100 years.
Malaria is the 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 1955, WHO launched the Global Malaria Eradication Campaign, which excluded sub-Saharan Africa and was eventually abandoned. In recent years, WHO has returned to aid sub-Saharan Africa.
“For centuries, malaria has stalked sub-Saharan Africa, causing immense personal suffering,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “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.”
In clinical trials, the vaccine had an efficacy of approximately 50% against severe malaria in the first year, but the figure dropped close to zero by the fourth year. The trials did not measure the vaccine’s impact on deaths, which has led some experts to question investment in countries with countless other intractable problems.
Last year, a modeling study said if the vaccine was distributed to countries with the highest incidence of malaria, it could prevent 5.4 million cases and 23,000 deaths in children younger than five each year.
“Called Mosquirix, the vaccine produced by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals has been in development since the mid-1980s. The CDC noted that several challenges had to be overcome to reach this point, including the lack of a traditional market, few developers, and the technical complexity of developing any vaccine against a parasite,” reports Everyday Health.
WHO recommended this vaccine because vaccine introduction is feasible, increases equity in access to malaria prevention, is highly cost-effective and has a high safety profile.
To date, more than 2.3 million doses of the vaccine have been administered in three African countries: Kenya, Malawi and Ghan. It was incorporated into routine immunization programs.
The next step 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.
“We still have a very long road to travel, but this is a long stride down that road,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said at a news conference on Wednesday.
