New hope in Africa's malaria crisis: Another new vaccine discovered

12PUNTO FOREIGN NEWS

The fight against malaria continues in underdeveloped and economically troubled regions, particularly in African countries. 

Although malaria has ceased to be a problem in most parts of the world, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), hundreds of thousands of people lose their lives to malaria in Africa every year. 

According to UNICEF data, 249 million malaria cases were recorded in 2022 alone, and 608,000 of these cases resulted in death.

Children aged 5 and under account for 76% of fatal cases. 

THAT METHOD FAILED IN THE FIGHT AGAINST MALARIA

Many methods have been tried in the fight against malaria, the most prominent of which was donating mosquito nets, sold for between 2 and 4 dollars, to Africa to try to protect babies and children from mosquitoes and thus prevent malaria. However, this method also largely failed. 

Researchers have been trying to develop a vaccine for decades against malaria, which is the second leading cause of child mortality on the African continent. The RTS,S vaccine, developed by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and the non-profit health organization PATH, has been in trials for about five years. The letters in the vaccine's name refer to the genes of the parasite from which it is produced.

After five years of data collection and observation, it was concluded that the vaccine is an effective weapon in the fight against malaria. 

Health officials in Cameroon began administering the vaccine to newborns and babies under 5 years old in the country after it was brought into the country. 

IT HAD BEEN IN TRIALS SINCE 2019

The development of the RTS,S vaccine was completed in 2019. 

The vaccine, which has been in development since the early 1980s, received approval from the WHO, but sufficient resources for its widespread use were not available at that time. Furthermore, whether the vaccine would be successful was a question mark.

While experts questioned whether the vaccine developed sufficient immunity against the disease, the recorded success rate of the vaccine is at the 75% level.

Following the success of the pilot program launched in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi in 2019 after five years, African countries began procuring the RTS,S vaccine for widespread use in the fight against malaria. Following Cameroon, Burkina Faso also began administering the vaccine.

ANOTHER NEW VACCINE DEVELOPED

In addition to the RTS,S vaccine, a vaccine called R21 was also approved by the WHO last December. R21, or by its other name Matrix-M, has been used in some African countries since last year. 

The first implementer of the vaccine was Ghana. However, applications in Ghana had begun before the WHO approved the vaccine. The vaccine was developed jointly by the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India. According to the developers, after a 12-month trial, the success rate of R21 was also 75%, like RTS,S. 

In a report by Al Jazeera, medical professor Wendy Prudhomme O'Meara stated that the main problem with the Matrix-M vaccine is that it requires frequent boosters. 

Stating that the protection provided by the vaccine lasts at most 1 year, O’Meara said, “This is an important first step, but it is not the end of the road.”

News Source: 12punto