The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended a new vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, for the prevention of malaria in children.
- R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine has been developed by the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India.
- The WHO recommendation is required for UNICEF to procure and GAVI to purchase the vaccine.
- The R21 vaccine is the second malaria vaccine recommended by WHO, following the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine, which received a WHO recommendation in 2021.
- Both vaccines are shown to be safe and effective in preventing malaria in children and, when implemented broadly, are expected to have high public health impact.
- The RTS,S vaccine will be rolled out in some African countries in early 2024, and the R21 malaria vaccine is expected to become available to countries mid-2024.
About Malaria
- Malaria is a life-threatening disease spread to humans by some types of mosquitoes. It is mostly found in tropical countries.
- It is preventable and curable. Malaria mostly spreads to people through the bites of some infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.
- Blood transfusion and contaminated needles may also transmit malaria.
- There are 5 Plasmodium parasite species that cause malaria in humans and 2 of these species – P. falciparum and P. vivax – pose the greatest threat.
- P. falciparum is the deadliest malaria parasite and the most prevalent on the African continent.
- P. vivax is the dominant malaria parasite in most countries outside of sub-Saharan Africa.
- Malaria places a particularly high burden on children in the African Region, where nearly half a million children die from the disease each year.
