Cameroon: South West Health Officials Roll Out Breakthrough Malaria Vaccine

Africa accounted for approximately 95 per cent of global malaria cases and 96 per cent of related deaths from the mosquito-borne disease in 2021 By Boris Esono Nwenfor [caption id="attachment_110830" align="alignnone" width="900"] The South West Region will begin rolling out the malaria vaccine RTSS this month according to Dr Oben Pamela, Coordinator for the Expanded Program on Immunization for the South West Reg[/caption] BUEA, January 17, 2024 – On November 21, 2023, a batch of 331, 200 doses of the breakthrough malaria vaccine, the RTSS – the first malaria vaccine recommended by the World Health Organization, WHO, arrived in Cameroon, to assist in the fight against the disease in the West African country. "We encourage all parents to take advantage of this life-saving intervention," said Cameroon's Health Minister Malachie Manaouda, adding that malaria "remains a major public health threat in the country". The delivery "signals that scale-up of vaccination against malaria across the highest-risk areas on the African continent will begin shortly," the WHO, the UN Children's Agency UNICEF and the Gavi vaccine alliance said in a joint statement last year. They called it "a historic step towards broader vaccination against one of the deadliest diseases for African children". Following on Minister Manaouda Malachie’s advice, health officials in the South West will begin rolling out the malaria vaccine this month. The vaccine is expected to be administered in 4 doses to children aged 6 to 1 year, said Dr Oben Pamela, Coordinator for the Expanded Program on Immunization for the South West Region. She said: “Several health districts have been identified and prioritized as areas that we will be introducing the vaccine. The reason for this classification was done taking into account the incidence of malaria in the country with these areas being the high or moderate areas with malaria. In the SW, the three health districts prioritized are Tiko, Limbe and Mamfe.” Dr Oben Pamela added: "The vaccine will be administered at 6 months, at 7 months, at 9 months and one year later at 24 months within a four-dose regiment. This vaccine aims to reduce mobility and the severity of this disease. Malaria is responsible for several child hospitalizations within the year and severe forms of malaria are very frequent to children. We are hoping to reduce mobility, hospitalization and the occurrence of this severe form on children." Several African countries are finalising preparations for malaria vaccines to be introduced into routine immunisation programmes, with the first doses set to be administered in January-March 2024. "Introducing vaccines is like adding a star player to the pitch... we are entering a new era in immunisation and malaria control," said UNICEF chief Catherine Russell. Africa accounted for approximately 95 per cent of global malaria cases and 96 per cent of related deaths from the mosquito-borne disease in 2021. Yearly global malaria deaths fell dramatically between 2000 and 2019 -- when they stood at 568,000 -- but shot up 10 per cent in 2020 to 625,000 as the COVID-19 crisis hit protection and treatment efforts. Deaths dipped slightly to 619,000 in 2021 -- of which 77 per cent were children aged under five. Meanwhile, global malaria cases rose slightly to 247 million. [caption id="attachment_110831" align="alignnone" width="720"] Last year, Cameroon's Minister of Public Health Manaouda Malachie received a batch of 331, 200 doses of the breakthrough malaria vaccine, the RTS,S[/caption] The vaccine rollout is a "breakthrough moment for malaria vaccines and malaria control, and a ray of light in a dark time for so many vulnerable children in the world", said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The Mosquirix vaccine acts against plasmodium falciparum -- the most deadly malaria parasite globally and the most prevalent in Africa. It is administered in a four-dose schedule which begins at around the age of five months old. “All children are eligible to take the vaccine at no cost; so parents are free to take their children to the various health facilities that have been identified and get their children vaccinated,” Dr Oben Pamela, Coordinator for the Expanded Program on Immunization for the South West Region said. “The parents are not supposed to pay for syringes, vaccination cards, for the vaccine itself as the government has made the vaccine free to all the children eligible.”