The World Health Organisation WHO is recommending widespread use of the world’s first malaria vaccine for the decades-long battle against the deadly disease for children at risk.
The vaccine is geared towards children, in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions with moderate to high transmission.
The recommendation to begin using the RTS, vaccine, is based an ongoing pilot programme set up by WHO and partners in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, that has reached more than 800,000 children since 2019.
Ghebreyesus said the world had made “incredible progress” in the fight against malaria in the past two decades.
The malaria parasite is mostly transmitted by infective mosquitoes and carried in the blood, after being bitten.
Also speaking at the news conference, WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said that “for centuries, malaria has stalked sub-Saharan Africa, causing immense personal suffering.”
