Cameroon receives WHO-approved malaria vaccine
Yaounde, Cameroon (PANA) - The arrival in Cameroon of the world’s first malaria vaccine recommended by UN health agency WHO has been hailed as a significant step toward broader vaccination against one of the deadliest diseases for African children.
More than 330,000 doses of the RTS,S vaccine landed in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, on Tuesday night, as announced by WHO, Gavi, the vaccine alliance, and the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF.
Nearly every minute, a child under-five dies of malaria, which is spread by infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. There were 247 million cases globally in 2021, and nearly 620,000 deaths, mostly among under-fives in Africa.
“This is another breakthrough moment for malaria vaccines and malaria control, and a ray of light in a dark time for so many vulnerable children in the world,” said WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who called for vaccines to be scaled up.
The RTS,S vaccine has been administered to more than two million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi through a pilot programme that started in 2019, a UN statement said.
The delivery to Cameroon is the first to a country not previously involved in the pilot programme, signalling that the scale-up of malaria vaccination across the highest-risk areas in Africa will begin shortly.
-0- PANA MA 22Nov2023
