Johannesburg - A historic moment as the World Health Organization (WHO) endorses the use of a groundbreaking malaria vaccine for children at risk.
The WHO this week announced that it is recommending the widespread use of the RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine among children in sub-Saharan Africa and in other regions with moderate to high malaria transmission.
The recommendation is based on results from an ongoing pilot programme in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi that has reached more than 800 000 children since 2019.
“This is a historic moment. The long-awaited malaria vaccine for children is a breakthrough for science, child health and malaria control. Using this vaccine on top of existing tools to prevent malaria could save tens of thousands of young lives each year,” said WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
WHO regional director for Africa Dr Matshidiso Moeti said that for centuries malaria has stalked sub-Saharan Africa, causing immense personal suffering.
“We have long hoped for an effective malaria vaccine and now, for the first time ever, we have such a vaccine recommended for widespread use. Today’s recommendation offers a glimmer of hope for the continent which shoulders the heaviest burden of the disease and we expect many more African children to be protected from malaria and grow into healthy adults,” she said.
Based on the advice of two WHO global advisory bodies, the WHO recommends that the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine should be provided in a schedule of four doses in children from five months of age for the reduction of malaria disease and burden.
The data from the pilot programme showed that more than two-thirds of children in the three countries, who are not sleeping under a bed net, were benefiting from the vaccine.
Layering the insecticide treated bed nets with the RTS,S resulted in over 90% of children benefiting from at least one preventive intervention, according to the WHO.
The pilot programme also showed that there was no negative impact on uptake of bed nets, other childhood vaccinations, or health seeking behaviour for feverish illness. WHO said in areas where the vaccine was introduced, there has been no decrease in the use of insecticide-treated nets, uptake of other childhood vaccinations or health-seeking behaviour for febrile illness.
The programme also showed a significant 30% reduction in deadly severe malaria, even when introduced in areas where insecticide-treated nets are widely used and there is good access to diagnosis and treatment.
Meanwhile, the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) on Thursday urged people that have just returned from a malaria endemic area and develop any flu-like symptoms to get tested for both the Covid-19 and malaria.
“The season of malaria disease, which has similar symptoms toe Covid-19, is upon us once again. Even though the malaria season occurs between October and April, South Africa sees malaria cases throughout the year,” GDoH Kwara Kekana said.
Even though Gauteng is not a malaria endemic area, it continues to see and attend to malaria cases throughout the year. Gauteng sees on average between 2 000 and 3 000 malaria cases every year, while the number of malaria-related fatalities averages between 20 to 30 deaths in a year, according to the department.
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The Star