WHO endorses first vaccine for malaria

The World Health Organization (WHO) took a monumental step in the fight against malaria by endorsing its first vaccine to combat the most deadly form in the hopes of reducing children fatalities.

The international health organization recommended that children living in areas with “moderate to high transmission” of P. falciparum malaria receive four doses on a schedule once they are 5 months old to prevent the disease.

Significance: WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the announcement a “historic moment,” saying the vaccine manufactured by British company GlaxoSmithKline could save tens of thousands of children’s lives.

“The long-awaited malaria vaccine for children is a breakthrough for science, child health and malaria control,” he said in a statement. “Using this vaccine on top of existing tools to prevent malaria could save tens of thousands of young lives each year.”

Ongoing study results: WHO backed the malaria vaccine after seeing data from an ongoing pilot program involving more than 800,000 children across Ghana, Kenya and Malawi since 2019.

The results so far determined that more than two-thirds of children who are not sleeping under a bed net “are benefiting from” the vaccine. The pilot program also found a “significant” 30 percent reduction in deadly severe malaria.