The World Health Organisation has recommended the use of a low-cost and highly effective malaria vaccine developed by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) in collaboration with the University of Oxford in the UK. The R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine is the world’s second-ever WHO recommended vaccine for preventing malaria in children. In 2021, the RTS, S/AS01 vaccine became the first jab against the mosquito-borne disease to receive the WHO nod.
The WHO’s independent advisory body, the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) and the Malaria Policy Advisory Group (MPAG), recommended use of the vaccine after reviewing its safety, quality and effectiveness standards last month. Their recommendation was based on pre-clinical and clinical trial data, which showed good safety and high efficacy in four countries, at sites with both seasonal and perennial malaria transmission.
“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, WHO Director-General, in a statement.
“Demand for the RTS,S vaccine far exceeds supply, so this second vaccine is a vital additional tool to protect more children faster, and to bring us closer to our vision of a malaria-free future,” he added.
The R21/Matrix-MTM malaria vaccine has been licensed for use in Ghana, Nigeria and Burkina Faso. In combination with public health measures such as the use of insecticide-treated bed nets, the new vaccine can help save and improve the lives of millions of children and their families.
In areas with highly seasonal malaria transmission (where malaria transmission is largely limited to 4 or 5 months per year), the R21 vaccine was shown to reduce symptomatic cases of malaria by 75 per cent during the 12 months following a 3-dose series.
A fourth dose given a year after the third maintained efficacy. This high efficacy is similar to the efficacy demonstrated when RTS, S is given seasonally. Source: IANS