The world's first malaria vaccine - 24th April 2023

Kenya's celebrating success with the world's first malaria vaccine. Malaria cases and deaths in children have decreased.

In 2021, the World Health Organisation (WHO) gave permission to use the vaccine. In Kenya, Malawi and Ghana, over a million children were given the vaccine. In Kenya, 400,000 children took the vaccine. There, the government's happy with the results.

It took 30 years to make the RTS,S malaria vaccine available. A company, GlaxoSmithKline, created it. Children need to take four vaccines before they're two.

In 2021, there were 247 million malaria cases around the world and 619,000 people died. The WHO said that 96 percent of the deaths happened in Africa. In Kenya, malaria causes the most deaths and illnesses in children. Isabella Osido said that after the four vaccines, her child's health improved.

So far, Algeria, Sri Lanka and 7 other countries have erased malaria. They haven't had any cases in three years. Vaccination and good health care are working well for these countries. The WHO would like this to happen in 35 other countries by 2030. And Kenya's on its way.