By Nneka Nwogwugwu and Abdulrahman Abdullahi
About 220,000 children in Malawi have received at least one dose of the RTS,S malaria vaccine through routine immunization, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.
This is part of a landmark pilot implementation in sub-Saharan Africa – led by the Ministries of Health in Malawi, Ghana, and Kenya, coordinated by WHO and supported by in-country and regional and global health partners.
Two years ago, Malawi became the first country in the world to introduce the malaria vaccine into its childhood immunization programme, followed by Ghana and then Kenya. The vaccine was introduced in a phased approach that targeted 11 districts in Malawi.
Globally, more than half of childhood deaths occur in Africa, and malaria is a major cause of death. In January 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended pilot implementation of the RTS,S malaria vaccine in children to use alongside other malaria control interventions in settings of moderate-to-high parasite transmission. The malaria vaccine is the first and, to date, the only vaccine that can significantly reduce malaria in children.
“To reduce childhood deaths, we can look to the potential of interventions like the malaria vaccine to deliver added malaria prevention on the successful child vaccination or EPI platform that reaches about 80% of children in the country.
‘’The vaccine provides considerable added protection against malaria to children. It is an additional tool alongside insecticide-treated nets (or bed nets) and it is also an opportunity to reach children not yet using bed nets or other malaria prevention interventions – the malaria vaccine could increase equity in access to life-saving malaria interventions,” said Dr Nonhlanhla Dlamini, WHO Representative in Malawi.
Since the roll out of the vaccine, a lot of benefits have been recorded in the country.
According to WHO in a report, ‘Increasing equity to malaria prevention through vaccination pilot in Malawi’ published on its website, revealed that hospital visits and admissions due to malaria put a financial burden on the vulnerable.
‘’In Malawi almost 60% of childhood outpatient health facility visits are due to malaria. Data from Chileka Health Centre in Lilongwe indicates a decrease in hospital admissions for malaria illness among children under age five years since the vaccine was introduced. Health workers say this drop may be due to the malaria vaccine,’’ it stated.
NatureNews reports that malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes.
About half of the worlds’ population is at risk of malaria, particularly those in lower-income countries. It infects more than 500 million people each year and kills more than one million people, according to WHO. However, Malaria is preventable and curable.
The World Health Assembly instituted World Malaria Day in May 2007. The purpose of the event is to give countries in affected regions the chance to learn from each other’s experiences and support one another’s efforts.
World Malaria Day also enables new donors to join in a global partnership against malaria, and for research and academic institutions to reveal scientific advances to the public. The day also gives international partners, companies and foundations a chance to showcase their efforts and reflect on how to scale up what has worked.
It is observed on April 25 each year.
A statement from WHO on their website stated, ‘’This year, WHO and partners will mark World Malaria Day by celebrating the achievements of countries that are approaching – and achieving – malaria elimination. They provide inspiration for all nations that are working to stamp out this deadly disease and improve the health and livelihoods of their populations.
In the face of a dual threat of antimalarial drug resistance and COVID-19, countries of the Greater Mekong subregion have also made major strides towards their shared goal of elimination by 2030. In the 6 countries of the subregion, the reported number of malaria cases fell by 97% between 2000 and 2020. Malaria deaths were reduced by more than 99% in the same period of time.
Ahead of World Malaria Day, country leaders, frontline health workers and global partners will come together in a virtual forum to share experiences and reflections on efforts to reach the target of zero malaria.
