The Ministry of Health in Malawi says it will soon roll out Africa’s first malaria vaccine for children under age five.
After more than 30 years of development, the RTS,S vaccine was tested in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi. While the Malaria vaccine has a relatively low level of effectiveness, it has raised hopes of saving over 400,000 people who die annually from the mosquito-borne disease, most of them in Africa.
Following the completion of the pilot phase,the vaccine roll out will begin in November. Since 2019, the World Health Organisation has vaccinated 360,000 children per year in Malawi, Ghana and Kenya, one-third of them in Malawi.
Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, Malawi’s minister of health, said children are especially at risk of malaria during the rainy season, in the months of November and December.
Chiponda said the decision vaccinate children came after meetings between Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera and representatives of PATH, a global health nonprofit organisation, when Chakwera attended this year’s U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York.
The WHO endorsed the vaccine years ago, saying it was a breakthrough in the fight against malaria.
The vaccine, shows 30% effectiveness and requires four doses, it is sold by GlaxoSmithKline as Mosquirix. Promoters of the vaccine Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have raised concerns as to whether the vaccine is worth the cost.
Philip Welkhoff, director of malaria programs for the Gates Foundation, said in July that the foundation will no longer offer direct financial support for the shot, although it will fund an alliance backing the vaccine.
He said the malaria vaccine has a much lower efficacy than the foundation would like and that the shot is relatively expensive and logistically challenging to deliver.
However, Maziko Matemba, health activist and community health ambassador in Malawi, is not discouraged.
“Now that finally the malaria vaccines will be launched in Malawi is welcome news, and we hope that the under-five [age group] will be protected because according to statistics, Malaria is so endemic in the under-five [age group] and we are adding a package in the prevention of malaria,” Matemba said.
Matemba said the 30% efficacy is nothing to worry about, as not all vaccines are 100% effective.
“When we had [the] COVID vaccine it was not 100%. It was at 70% or so. So, it’s the same case with this,” Matemba said.
Statistics show that malaria is the number one deadly disease in Malawi and accounts for 3 out of 10 hospital outpatients and 3 out of 20 hospital admissions.
