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October 7, 2021

Anna Murray 

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that children in Sub-Saharan Africa and other areas where P. falciparum malaria transmission is moderate to high receive the RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine on October 6. It is based on the findings of a pilot program that, since 2019, has reached over 800,000 children in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi.

In recent years, WHO and its affiliates have reported stagnation in malaria progress. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the deadly disease is still the leading cause of childhood illness and death. Malaria kills over 260 000 African children under the age of five each year.

This is a pivotal moment in history. The long-awaited malaria vaccine for children is a scientific, child health, and malaria control breakthrough, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who made the announcement in a news release. This vaccine was created in Africa by African scientists. The WHO director-general thanked African researchers, as well as British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline, for their contributions to the vaccine's development over the last 30 years, as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which contributed to the project's funding. Using this vaccine in addition to existing malaria prevention tools could save tens of thousands of young lives each year.