World's First Malaria Vaccine

The World Health Organization’s director-general hails ‘historic moment’ as mass immunisation of African children begins

Malaria is the largest cause of childhood illness and death in subSaharan Africa, killing more than 260,000 under-fives every year. For context, that means one child dies of malaria every two minutes.

Now, following a successful pilot scheme that involved giving at least one dose of the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine to more than 800,000 children across Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, the World Health Organization (WHO) is recommending a widespread immunisation programme for children aged five months or older living in subSaharan Africa. This marks the first time that a vaccine for malaria has been recommended for use across large swathes of the continent.