Malaria vaccine to begin testing in Malawi

Malawi is launching a malaria vaccine pilot today, hoping to prevent a disease that kills 250,000 children in Africa each year, reports the World Health Organization (WHO).

“We have seen tremendous gains from bed nets and other measures to control malaria in the last 15 years, but progress has stalled and even reversed in some areas,” explains Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization. “The malaria vaccine has the potential to save tens of thousands of children’s lives.”

With more than 30 years in development, Malawi — followed by Kenya and Ghana in the coming weeks — were selected for the trial due to their high rates of malaria.

The RTS,S vaccine was found to prevent four in 10 malaria cases in clinical trials.

The plan is to immunize 360,000 children per year and assess its effectiveness.

At Christian Children’s Fund of Canada, we’ve provided training on how to reduce the prevalence of mosquitoes in a bid to address like-minded viruses. We also provide access to care at clinics and mosquito nets.

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