Nurse Agnes and fellow colleges from Bwindi Community Hospital give a demonstration of how to use a mosquito net during an outreach clinic in Kitahurira. Photo Credit: Andrew Aitchison/Getty Images

Health Ghana15. October 2021

Children to Getting Life-Saving Vaccine Against Malaria

The World Health Organization (WHO) has finally given the green light for African children to receive a life-saving vaccine against malaria – and Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi are the first sub-Saharan countries to benefit from the intravenous medicine.

The RTS, S/AS01 vaccine – also known as Mosquirix – is considered a major success following decades of efforts: it is the first vaccine of its kind to be developed for a parasitic disease, which is a lot more complex to treat than bacterial or viral diseases.

“Using the vaccine in addition to anti-malarial measures already in place could save tens of thousands of young lives every year,” says Tedros Adhanom Ghebeyesus, Director of the WHO.

The RTS vaccine is produced by British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, with the support of the non-profit organization Prath and the Gates Foundation. Hundreds of thousands of children will receive four doses, from the age of five months until they are two. For some 20 years now, African countries have been using mosquito nets treated with insecticides to curb the spread of malaria, a useful measure that remains important.

Source:
Spiegel

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