After 30 years’ search, world gets first ever malaria vaccine
The incredible work by Kemri and contribution by children in Kericho, Kisumu and Kilifi has finally paid off, giving the world its first ever malaria vaccine.
The hard work of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) and the contribution of children in Kericho, Kisumu and Kilifi have finally paid off and given the world its first malaria vaccine.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday officially recommended the widespread use of the jab, known as RTS, S, following trials in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi.
Kenya became the third country in 2019 to embrace clinical trials for the vaccine.
Its commercial name is Mosquirix and it was developed jointly by British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, PATH and African research institutes.
This marks “a historic day” as the vaccine had taken 30 years to develop, said WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
"We still have a long road to travel. But this is a long stride down that road. The malaria vaccine is a gift to the world but its value will be felt most in Africa, where the burden of malaria is greatest,” he said.
“I thank the researchers in Africa who generated the data and insights that informed this decision – this is a vaccine developed in Africa, by African scientists.”
The dream of a malaria vaccine, he said, had been “a long-held but unattainable dream” and the vaccine, which had taken more than 30 years to develop, will change the course of public health.
Using the new jab alongside existing tools to prevent malaria, he said, could save tens of thousands of young lives each year.
“This long-awaited malaria vaccine is a breakthrough for science, child health and malaria control,” he said.
More than 800,000 children in the three pilot African countries, the WHO said, have been given at least one dose of the vaccine since 2019 as part of the normal childhood immunisation programmes, with experts saying that the vaccine proved safe and prevented 30 per cent of severe cases of malaria.
Kemri’s joy knows no bounds.
"After more than 2 million doses of the vaccine were provided through routine immunisation systems in the 3 pilot countries, and hundreds of thousands of children were vaccinated, there is no evidence that the safety signals seen in the previous Phase 3 trial were caused by the vaccine,” Kemri said in an official statement.
“The vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective in the pilots and in a number of other recent RTS, S clinical studies. The assessment at the time of the regulatory review and by the Data Safety Monitoring Board of the clinical trials was that the observations were chance findings, which this pilot programme has now resolved."
The impact of this vaccine when added to current malaria control interventions, Kemri says, is significant and can result in a major and important reduction in illness and deaths and considerably reduce the burden on health systems.
“At least 3,000 children die every day in Africa from malaria. RTS, S malaria vaccine is welcome addition to existing arsenal against malaria, we applaud the galaxy of researchers and funders involved in RTS, S vaccine breakthrough in malaria control. A good day for science!” Kemri followed up with a tweet.
Speaking to the Nation by phone, Aaron Samuels, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Kenya Malaria Programme, described this achievement as historic.
“I think this is a historic event for the world and particularly Kenya, where there is malaria that is systemic. This vaccine will be life-saving for children throughout sub-Saharan Africa. I wish to thank and celebrate Kemri, who have been very instrumental to make this recommendation and vaccine a success,” said Mr Samuels, who is also the principal investigator for the malaria vaccine.
“I am just proud to be alive to witness this but now we have a lot of work to be done on implementation, how it will be funded, who will fund it and the role African leaders have to play because we need to come together to make these decisions.”
In an official statement, PATH, a nonprofit global health organisation based in Seattle, US, said that it was gratifying to know that a malaria vaccine developed specifically for African children could soon be more widely available.
“This is especially true now when progress in combating malaria has stalled in parts of the Africa region and children remain at increased risk of dying from the disease,” said Dr Nathalie Mugala, PATH’s chief of the Africa region.
Last year President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Zero Malaria Starts with Me campaign as the person at the helm of the Africa Leaders Malaria Alliance. This vaccine may be a solution to that end.
The government in February launched the End Malaria Council (EMC) consisting of 12 members. One of its strategies is on malaria prevention.
Kenya became the fifth country to join the EMC initiative.
The hard work of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) and the contribution of children in Kericho, Kisumu and Kilifi have finally paid off and given the world its first malaria vaccine.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday officially recommended the widespread use of the jab, known as RTS, S, following trials in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi.
Kenya became the third country in 2019 to embrace clinical trials for the vaccine.
Its commercial name is Mosquirix and it was developed jointly by British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, PATH and African research institutes.
This marks “a historic day” as the vaccine had taken 30 years to develop, said WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
"We still have a long road to travel. But this is a long stride down that road. The malaria vaccine is a gift to the world but its value will be felt most in Africa, where the burden of malaria is greatest,” he said.
“I thank the researchers in Africa who generated the data and insights that informed this decision – this is a vaccine developed in Africa, by African scientists.”
The dream of a malaria vaccine, he said, had been “a long-held but unattainable dream” and the vaccine, which had taken more than 30 years to develop, will change the course of public health.
Using the new jab alongside existing tools to prevent malaria, he said, could save tens of thousands of young lives each year.
“This long-awaited malaria vaccine is a breakthrough for science, child health and malaria control,” he said.
More than 800,000 children in the three pilot African countries, the WHO said, have been given at least one dose of the vaccine since 2019 as part of the normal childhood immunisation programmes, with experts saying that the vaccine proved safe and prevented 30 per cent of severe cases of malaria.
Kemri’s joy knows no bounds.
"After more than 2 million doses of the vaccine were provided through routine immunisation systems in the 3 pilot countries, and hundreds of thousands of children were vaccinated, there is no evidence that the safety signals seen in the previous Phase 3 trial were caused by the vaccine,” Kemri said in an official statement.
“The vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective in the pilots and in a number of other recent RTS, S clinical studies. The assessment at the time of the regulatory review and by the Data Safety Monitoring Board of the clinical trials was that the observations were chance findings, which this pilot programme has now resolved."
The impact of this vaccine when added to current malaria control interventions, Kemri says, is significant and can result in a major and important reduction in illness and deaths and considerably reduce the burden on health systems.
“At least 3,000 children die every day in Africa from malaria. RTS, S malaria vaccine is welcome addition to existing arsenal against malaria, we applaud the galaxy of researchers and funders involved in RTS, S vaccine breakthrough in malaria control. A good day for science!” Kemri followed up with a tweet.
Speaking to the Nation by phone, Aaron Samuels, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Kenya Malaria Programme, described this achievement as historic.
“I think this is a historic event for the world and particularly Kenya, where there is malaria that is systemic. This vaccine will be life-saving for children throughout sub-Saharan Africa. I wish to thank and celebrate Kemri, who have been very instrumental to make this recommendation and vaccine a success,” said Mr Samuels, who is also the principal investigator for the malaria vaccine.
“I am just proud to be alive to witness this but now we have a lot of work to be done on implementation, how it will be funded, who will fund it and the role African leaders have to play because we need to come together to make these decisions.”
In an official statement, PATH, a nonprofit global health organisation based in Seattle, US, said that it was gratifying to know that a malaria vaccine developed specifically for African children could soon be more widely available.
“This is especially true now when progress in combating malaria has stalled in parts of the Africa region and children remain at increased risk of dying from the disease,” said Dr Nathalie Mugala, PATH’s chief of the Africa region.
Last year President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Zero Malaria Starts with Me campaign as the person at the helm of the Africa Leaders Malaria Alliance. This vaccine may be a solution to that end.
The government in February launched the End Malaria Council (EMC) consisting of 12 members. One of its strategies is on malaria prevention.
Kenya became the fifth country to join the EMC initiative.
