WHO: Funds secured to roll out world’s first malaria vaccine in Africa
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently confirmed that the pilot projects of the world’s first malaria vaccine will be rolled out in sub-Saharan Africa in 2018 as global funding has been secured for the program’s initial phase.
The vaccine – known as RTS,S and marketed as Mosquirix –was developed through a partnership between British pharmaceutical company Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK) and the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI). It acts against P. falciparum, the most deadly malaria parasite globally, and the most prevalent in Africa.
However, advanced clinical trials have shown that RTS,Sonly provides partial protection against malaria in young children and needs to be given in a four-dose schedule.
Dr. Pedro Alonso, Director of the WHO Global Malaria Programme, calls the pilot deployment of the first-generation vaccine a milestone in the fight against malaria. The pilot project will also provide the evidence needed in deciding whether or not to deploy the vaccine in a wider scale.
A budget of US$15 million for the malaria vaccine pilots has been approved by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which assures full funding for the program’s first phase.
Earlier this year, the GAVI Vaccine Alliance and UNITAID announced commitments of up to US$27.5 million and US$9.6 million, respectively, for the first 4 years of the vaccine program.
RTS,S is the first malaria vaccine to successfully complete pivotal Phase 3 testing, which enrolled more than 15,000 infants and young children in seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
The vaccine is proposed as a tool to complement the existing package of WHO-recommended malaria preventive, diagnostic and treatment measures and will be used in combination with the current interventions.
Other tools include: long-lasting insecticidal bed-nets, spraying inside walls of dwellings with insecticides, preventive treatment for infants and during pregnancy, prompt diagnostic testing, and treatment of confirmed cases with effective anti-malarial medicines.
As RTS,S is only partially effective, it will be essential that any vaccinated patients with a fever be tested for malaria, and that all those with a confirmed malaria diagnosis are treated with high quality, effective anti-malarial medicines.
