Kenya will be the first country in the world to witness the roll-out of a malaria vaccine, scientists believe. However, the World Health Organization warns that this is not a replacement for existing preventive measures.-J.Berchmans Siboniyo
TheMalaria Vaccine being tested in Africa © Iwacu
“The vaccine has shown about 46 per cent efficacy in a study in Africa”,revealsProf K.M. Bhatt, an infectious and tropical diseases expert from the University of Nairobi.“It is one way to tame malaria, especially in specific populations such as pregnant women in malaria endemic areas who have a 50 per cent higher risk of infection.”
The vaccine is developed genetically, by engineering malaria parasites that are weakened by the precise removal of genes that in turn prevents the parasites from inducing an infection.The vaccine prevents the malaria parasite from infecting, maturing and multiplying in the liver, from where it re-enters the bloodstream and infects red blood cells, leading to the disease.
The pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKlineadds that the vaccine weakens the malaria parasiteplasmodium falciparum, which is prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. The vaccine was tested from 2009 to 2011 on 15,460 children in Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
Dr. Josélyne, responsible for the Expanded Immunization Program in Burundi’s, says that she is aware of the new vaccine. However, she indicates that Burundi government is still working on the activity program which will expire in 2015. She indicates that,when the vaccine is certified by the WHO, it will be a priority in the new immunization program starting in 2016.
The WHO notes that the vaccine will be evaluated as an addition to and not a replacement for existing preventive measures such as bed nets and insecticide spraying.
IWACU has contacted the pharmaceutical company to enquire about the price and availability of the vaccine in East Africa. Unfortunately, there is no information available. To this day, there is no commercializedvaccine against malaria despite many decades of research.
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According to the Center for Global Health and Diplomacy, malaria kills an estimated 660,000 people each year worldwide .With almost 90 percent of these deaths occurring in Africa, malaria kills an African child every minute. The economic loss caused by malaria in Africa is estimated to be $12 billion dollars each year.
It causes anemia in pregnant women, stillbirths, and low birth weight which increases the risk of death within the first days of the child’s life.
IWACU Open Data
