Uganda is one of the twelve African countries that are set to receive 18 million doses of the first-ever malaria vaccine over the next two years.
The roll out is a critical step forward in the fight against the disease, one of the leading causes of death on the continent.
The RTS,S/AS01 vaccine has been administered to more than 1.7 million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi in a pilot phase since 2019 and has been shown to be safe and effective, resulting in a substantial reduction in severe malaria and a fall in child deaths.
Dr. Kate O’Brien, WHO Director of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals says the malaria vaccine is a breakthrough to improve child health and child survival.
This first allocation of malaria vaccine doses is prioritised for children at highest risk of dying of malaria,”
“The high demand for the vaccine and the strong reach of childhood immunisation will increase equity in access to malaria prevention and save many young lives. We will work tirelessly to increase supply until all children at risk have access.”-Dr.Kate
At least 28 African countries have expressed interest in receiving the malaria vaccine.
The first doses of the vaccine are expected to arrive in countries during the last quarter of 2023, with countries starting to roll them out by early 2024.
Thabani Maphosa, Managing Director of Country Programmes Delivery at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance says that the malaria vaccine has the potential to be very impactful in the fight against malaria, and when deployed alongside other interventions, it can prevent tens of thousands of future deaths every year.
Ephrem Lemango, the UNICEF Associate Director of Immunization says nearly every minute, a child under 5 years old dies of malaria.
Lemango adds that for a long time, these deaths have been preventable and treatable; but the roll-out of this vaccine will give children even better chance at surviving.
He says that as supply increases, there is hope that even more children can benefit from this life-saving advancement.”
Malaria remains one of Africa’s deadliest diseases, killing nearly half a million children each year under the age of 5, and accounting for approximately 95% of global malaria cases and 96% of deaths in 2021.
