Cameroon became the first country in the world to start a routine malaria vaccination program on Monday. The program is expected to save the lives of tens of thousands of children in Africa every year.
It took British drugmaker GSK about forty years to develop the so-called RTS,S vaccine. The vaccine must work alongside existing tools, such as mosquito nets, to combat malaria. This disease kills nearly half a million children under the age of five in Africa every year.
Following successful trials in Ghana and Kenya, among other countries, Cameroon is now the first country to administer doses through a routine vaccination programme. Vaccine alliance Gavin said 19 other countries also want to roll out the program this year.
It is planned that about 6.6 million children in these countries will be vaccinated against malaria between 2024 and 2025. “We have been waiting for a day like this for a long time,” said Mohamed Abdelaziz of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Children receive a total of four doses of the vaccine. According to American researchers, the injection is effective in at least 36 percent of cases. This means it could save the lives of more than one in three people.
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