RD Congo: Government To Introduce  New Malaria Vaccine At The End Of October

By Badylon Kawanda Bakiman

If all the conditions are right, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Central Africa will introduce a new vaccine to combat malaria. Malaria has already caused several deaths over the years in this country of over 80 million inhabitants.

“The Minister of Public Health informed the Council of the introduction, from the 4th quarter of this year, of the malaria vaccine in the DRC, in line with the global strategy to eliminate malaria by 2030”, said Kibassa Maliba, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, in the minutes of the 17th meeting of the Council of Ministers read out on national television the day before yesterday.

“This R21-Matrix-M vaccine will be administered to children aged 6 to 24 months from October 29, in the pilot province of Kongo-Central, before being extended to the other provinces”, he explained, stressing that the Board had taken note of this information note.

According to recent data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Democratic Republic of Congo remains the second country in the world in terms of the number of malaria cases and deaths.

In 2020, 12% of malaria cases and 13.2% of malaria deaths occurred in the DRC, and the country accounted for 53.1% of malaria cases in Central Africa in the same year.

Since October last year, the R21/Matrix-M vaccine has been recommended by the WHO against malaria, particularly in children.

It is the second malaria vaccine to be recommended by this global health institution, following the RTS, S/AS01 vaccine, which the Organization recommended in 2021.

Both vaccines were found to be safe and effective in preventing malaria in children, and, if administered on a large scale, are expected to have a significant impact on public health, the UN Organization said.

Malaria, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, hits children particularly hard in the African Region, where almost half a million die from the disease every year.

The government says it will start in the province of Central Kongo and then extend across the country's 26 provinces.