Malaria Vaccination Program: Big Success!

One year into the routine malaria vaccination program in Africa, close to 10 million doses have been delivered in 17 endemic countries that collectively represent more than 70% of the world’s malaria burden, thus protecting an estimated 5 million children.

“This early data is a small indicator of the potential public health impact of a program we hope to scale up dramatically by the end of the decade – protecting tens of millions of children around the world, and reducing the stress malaria places on African health systems,” says Dr Sania Nishtar, Chef Executive at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

The “pilot” malaria vaccination programme (MVIP) in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi took place between 2019 and 2023, and helped guide country rollouts. During that period, more than 2 million children, proving that the malaria vaccine led to a significant reduction in malaria illnesses, child mortality, and hospitalizations. Since 2023, 12 million doses have been delivered. In January 2024, Cameroon became the first African country to launch the vaccine as part of its national routine immunization program in 42 districts; the goal is to scale it up to all 205 districts by 2026. Results are promising and consistent with the MVIP findings, and additional data, study, and follow-ups will demonstrate the direct impact of the vaccine and prove without a doubt its necessity.