<
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/oct/02/new-malaria-vaccine-approved-by-world-health-organization>
"A highly effective malaria vaccine has been recommended for widespread use by
the World Health Organization.
The R21/Matrix-M vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford, is only the
second malaria vaccine to be recommended by the WHO. It is the first to meet
the WHO’s target of 75% efficacy.
Malaria, a mosquito-borne disease, claims half a million lives every year and
mostly affects children under the age of five, and pregnant women.
“As a malaria researcher, I used to dream of the day we would have a safe and
effective vaccine against malaria. Now we have two,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO.
Demand for vaccines is huge. However, available supplies of the RTS,S vaccine,
the first malaria vaccine approved by the WHO in 2021, are limited. A second
WHO-recommended vaccine is expected “to protect more children faster, and to
bring us closer to our vision of a malaria-free future,” said Tedros.
The world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by doses – the Serum Institute of
India – is already lined up to make more than 100m doses a year and plans to
scale up to 200m a year, the BBC reported. Each dose costs between $2 and $4;
four doses are needed per person. That is about half the price of RTS,S. So
far, there are only 18m doses of RTS,S.
Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, said: “This second
vaccine holds real potential to close the huge demand-and-supply gap. Delivered
to scale and rolled out widely, the two vaccines can help bolster malaria
prevention and control efforts, and save hundreds of thousands of young lives
in Africa from this deadly disease.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
