Africa's malaria vaccine victory

Victory over malaria - 24th April 2023

Kenya's expanded its malaria vaccine programme and is reaping the benefits. It's experienced a huge decrease in malaria cases and child deaths since the start of the programme.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended the vaccine use in 2021. Kenya, Malawi and Ghana have since vaccinated over a million children. The Kenyan government reported that nearly 400,000 children in rural regions have received the vaccine.

The Kenyan Director General for Health, Patrick Amoth is pleased. He reported a huge fall in the number of illnesses and deaths in children.

GlaxoSmithKline developed the malaria vaccine RTS,S over 30 years ago. However, it's only just been made available for general use. Four doses of the vaccine are required before age two to get full protection.

In 2021, 247 million cases of malaria were reported globally, and it took the lives of 619,000 people. The WHO reported that 96 percent of these deaths occurred in Africa. In Kenya, malaria's the main cause of illness and death in children.

The vaccine has played a key role in the health of Isabella Osido's child. The young mother said her child's health improved after taking the full course of the vaccine.

Getting rid of malaria's now a possibility. Algeria and Sri Lanka are among 9 countries which have eliminated the disease. These countries have reported three years of zero malaria cases. The WHO has high hopes of the same results in 35 other countries by 2030. Kenya's working hard to be one of these countries.