More Children Under Five to Get Proper Protection Against Malaria

Burundi has become the latest country to deploy its Malaria vaccine program, destined to protect children under five, as they are the demographic most susceptible to falling prey to the mosquito-borne parasitic infection.

“Since December 2024, 17 countries have integrated the anti-malaria vaccine in their vaccination programme for the children, and thanks to the financial support by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, 1,445,500 doses have been secured for Burundi,” explains WHO’s Dr Xavier Crespin. 

In 2023, four in ten residents fell ill with the disease, with more than 75% of the 600,000 malaria fatalities a year being young children, mostly under five. In January, a consignment of 543,950 doses of the RTS,S malaria vaccine arrived in Bujumbura, the economic capital of Burundi. In March, the country launched its malaria vaccination program, which will be implemented in nine provinces with particularly high malaria incidence and mortality rates among children under the age of five. Children will receive a four-dose series at five months, as recommended. As cases peak in April, May, and June – the rainy season – because mosquitoes breed at a higher rate in the drenched environment, the malaria vaccination program comes at the right time.