WHO Approves the First Malaria Vaccine

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By Patience Asanga

Photo by Gustavo Fring from Pexels

It is safe to say that most people in this part of the world has, at one point or another, been infected with the malaria parasite. According to the WHO’s 2020 world malaria report, Nigeria accounts for 27% of the world’s malaria cases with 23% of the total deaths as of 2019, thereby making it the country with the highest number of malaria cases in the world.

In this light, the recommendation of RTS, S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine for children, who are the most vulnerable to the disease, is a great development in the long-lasting fight against malaria in Nigeria. 


The announcement was made on the 6th of October 2021 by the WHO Director-general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who described the moment as historic and a breakthrough for children’s health. “This is a historic moment. The long-awaited malaria vaccine is a breakthrough for science, child health and malaria control.” He said, “using this vaccine on top of existing tools to prevent malaria could save tens of thousands of young lives each year”.


Before now, malaria has always been treated with antimalarial drugs and prevented by sleeping under insecticide-treated mosquito nets, which prevents physical contact with the mosquito vector and also produce insecticidal effects.


The WHO has recommended that four doses of the vaccine be provided for children from 5 months of age for the prevention of Plasmodium falciparum (the deadliest species of Plasmodium that causes malaria in man) in children living in areas with moderate to high risk of infection.


The recommended malaria vaccine is a product of a 30-year-research and having been administered in 3 African countries (Kenya, Ghana and Malawi), has shown a remarkable drop in deadly severe malaria in these regions and it’s said to have a “favourable safety profile”.


New York Times reports that the malaria vaccine (Mosquirix) is the first-ever vaccine developed for any parasitic disease. The administration of this vaccine in combination with other preventive drugs proofs to be more effective than using either alone. Next to safe water, no other system has significantly reduced a population’s death rate like vaccines, according to a review published in the Frontiers.          

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