Cameroon has launched the world’s first routine vaccine programme against malaria.
According to Reuters, the RTS,S malaria vaccine, developed by British pharmaceutical GSK and sold under the brand name Mosquirix, was backed by the World Health Organization in July 2022. It underwent trials in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi.
Cameroon is one of 20 African countries planning to introduce the drug this year, according to global vaccine alliance, Gavi, after it nderwent trials in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi.
The vaccine, designed to be administered to young children in four doses from around 5 months of age, acts against P. falciparum, the deadliest strain of malaria parasite spread by anopheles mosquitoes, and the most common in Africa.
- The vaccine has been in the making for nearly 40 years.
