Cameroon starts world-first malaria mass vaccine rollout

Cameroon starts world-first malaria mass vaccine rollout

Cameroon has initiated the world’s inaugural routine vaccine program targeting malaria, a groundbreaking effort anticipated to rescue numerous children’s lives throughout Africa.

In a symbolic commencement, a baby girl named Daniella received the first dose at a health facility near Yaoundé on Monday.

Annually, Africa witnesses 600,000 malaria-related fatalities, with children under five accounting for at least 80% of these deaths, as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Cameroon is providing the RTS, S vaccine free of charge to infants up to six months old, requiring a total of four doses.

Health authorities plan to administer these doses concurrently with other routine childhood vaccines for the convenience of parents.

This initiative follows successful pilot campaigns in Kenya, Ghana, and Malawi, where the vaccine demonstrated a 13% reduction in malaria deaths among eligible-age children, according to Unicef.

US researchers suggest that the vaccine is effective in at least 36% of cases, potentially saving more than one in three lives.

Despite being a significant relief and life-saving measure, the relatively modest efficacy rate underscores that the vaccine is not a “silver bullet,” as highlighted by Willis Akhwale at End Malaria Council Kenya.

But for medics, it is an important additional tool in the fight against malaria alongside mosquito nets and malaria tablets. Using all three together potentially gives children 90% protection from malaria, one UK-led study estimates.

“We can considerably reduce the number of cases and deaths from malaria and accelerate the elimination of the disease,” Cameroonian doctor Shalom Ndoula, who helped to lead the vaccine rollout in his country, told BBC Newsday.

Development of the RTS, S vaccine has taken 30 years of research by the British drug maker GSK.

The World Health Organization, which approved the vaccine, hailed the launch in Cameroon as a historic moment in the global fight against the mosquito-borne disease.

There was another breakthrough earlier this month when Cape Verde became the first sub-Saharan African country in 50 years to be officially declared malaria-free by the global health body.