The WHO recommends wide deployment of the world’s first malaria vaccine

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization announced its recommendation of the world’s first malaria vaccine, which it says could save the lives of tens of thousands of children in Africa annually. Testing by GlaxoSmithKline has shown that the vaccine is safe and can be effectively deployed in remote and rural settings.

The WHO approved the first ever malaria vaccine, which could save tens of thousands of children in sub-Saharan Africa. The quest for this vaccine has been underway for a hundred years, a WHO official said, and is a “historic event.”

Hundreds of thousands of children’s lives could be saved each year in Africa by combining the world’s first effective malaria vaccine with the current recommended approach of giving children prophylactic antimalarials for four months each year, study finds.

What people are saying?

Javier H Guzman Cruz Encouraging step. BUT health budgets are tight, and it’s not clear if this is the most cost-effective way to save lives, when other malaria interventions like bed nets and insecticide spraying work well, have not been fully used, and are so cheap.

Chandlahpete We all can agree, however, that it has been in the hands of the ultra rich for just as long. Am I wrong? How else do you think they get to go there, whenever they want with whomever, without any risk of disease?

Jason Stiff Something tells me there won’t be a huge number of people trying to get an “exemption” from this. I have a feeling there will be millions of people who are thankful for a vaccine that will save themselves, their loved ones and other people they’ll never even meet.