Rome, 6 October 2021 – Breakthrough against malaria. World Health Organization (WHO) approved first vaccine for widespread use, move experts hope can save Dozens of thousands of children’s lives across Africa. Saluting “a historic day“WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that after a successful pilot program in three African countries, the RTS, S vaccine should be distributed more widely.
“I started my career as a malaria researcher and I wished the day would come when we would have an effective vaccine against this ancient and terrible disease,” Tedros said at a press conference in Geneva. “AND today is that day, a historic day. Today, WHO recommends widespread use of the world‘s first malaria vaccine. “
The RTS vaccine, S, also known as Mosquirix, was developed by the British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and has been administered to more than 800,000 children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi since the pilot program began in 2019. The vaccine, which has undergone extensive clinical trials, has a limited efficacy, preventing 39% of malaria cases and 29% of severe malaria cases among young children in Africa over four years of studies.
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