[ 2016-11-22 ]

World's first malaria immunisation to begin in 2018
The world's first malaria vaccine immunisation
campaign is to commence in 2018 and funds for the
phase one of the pilot deployment of the vaccine
in Sub-Saharan Africa had been secured.

A release by the World Health Organisation (WHO)
to the Ghana News Agency said the assurance comes
after the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis
and Malaria had approved 15 million dollars for
the malaria vaccine pilot, assuring full funding
for the first phase of the programme.

The vaccine, known as Mosquirix or RTS,S and
developed by the British drugmaker
GlaxoSmithKline, is only partially effective and
needs to be given in a four-dose schedule.

It was developed in partnership with the
non-profit PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative and
part-funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation.

The WHO said while the new vaccine was promising
it should be deployed only on a pilot basis before
any wide-scale use was given its limited
efficacy.

Pedro Alonso, the Director of the WHO's Global
Malaria Programme, said: "Securing funding and
being able to trial the vaccine in Africa would be
a milestone in the fight against malaria.

"These pilot projects will provide the evidence we
need from real-life settings to make informed
decisions on whether to deploy the vaccine on a
wide scale".

Earlier this year, the GAVI Vaccine Alliance and
UNITAID announced commitments of up to 27.5
million dollars and 9.6 million dollars
respectively for the first four years of the
programme.

Malaria infects around 200 million people a year
worldwide and killed an estimated 440,000 in 2015.
The vast majority of malaria deaths are among
babies in sub-Saharan Africa.

Source - GNA

... go Back