Malaria in Africa has remained a big health risk believed to be the one of the leading factors to mortality deaths, it is an issue that has headlined most UN health focus for so many years. It’s smiles to Kenyans as the newly introduced Malaria Vaccine will start vaccinations from Kenya.
Children in the counties of Kisumu, Kakamega, Busia, Bungoma, Siaya, Migori, and Homabay will be given the vaccine Mosquirix.
World's 1st malaria vaccine to launch in 2018, in Ghana, Kenya & Malawi https://t.co/yz6caCjKML Encouraging.
— Liz Heron (@lheron) April 24, 2017
As revealed by World Health Organization (WHO) early last year, A new malaria vaccine will be tested on a large scale in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi, the World Health Organization said Monday, with 360,000 children to be vaccinated between 2018 and 2020.
The injectable vaccine RTS,S/AS01, the first malaria vaccine to be approved could provide limited protection against a disease that killed 429,000 people worldwide in 2015, with 92 percent of victims in Africa and two-thirds of them children under five.
Kenya could be the first country in the world to introduce the malaria vaccine. Starting next month.
— Lemon Squeezer (@MaingaLoui) February 15, 2019
It’s great news for Africa as it will relieve of the number of mortality deaths, World Health Organization (WHO) says the vaccine should be used alongside other preventative measures such as bed nets, insecticides, repellents and anti-malarial drugs.
The vaccine, also known as Mosquirix, has been developed by the British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in partnership with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, and the large-scale three-country pilot will test it on children aged five to 17 months.
Ghana 🇬🇭, Kenya 🇰🇪, and Malawi 🇲🇼 to take part in WHO #malaria vaccine pilot programme https://t.co/34RAwQiOlL via @WHOAFRO pic.twitter.com/0cskg0HHYp
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) April 24, 2017