Another African Country Now Ready to Immunize Kids Against Malaria

The Central African country of Cameroon received over 330,000 doses of the RTS, S malaria vaccine to be administered to children, meaning that the malaria vaccine immunization program will be in full effect during the first quarter of 2024 across the highest-risk countries on the continent.

“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,” states WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “The delivery of malaria vaccines to new countries across Africa will offer life-saving protection to millions of children at risk of malaria.”

A total of 331,200 doses of the world’s first WHO-recommended malaria vaccine arrived in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, where the pilot program didn’t take place. Therefore, this shipment is proof that the Gavi-supported routine immunization program will soon be deployed across the African continent, including in countries like Burkina Faso, Liberia, Niger, and Sierra Leone, where 1.7 million doses will be distributed in the coming weeks. In 2021, 95% of global malaria cases and 96% of related deaths occurred on the African continent. Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi have administered the vaccine to more than 2 million children since 2019 as part of the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme. Consequently, there was a 13% drop in all-cause mortality among children age-eligible to receive the vaccine.