Indications have shown that sub-Saharan Africa could be malaria free in the next two years following the announcement of plans to stage the test of the world’s first malaria vaccine in 2018. The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on Thursday that it has concluded plans to stage a test of RTS, S in unnamed African countries following the success of the phase 3 clinical trial. RTS, S is the first malaria vaccine to successfully complete the 3 phases of clinical trial. The phase 3 trial enrolled more than 15,000 infants and young children in 7 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
In a statement released on WHO website, the organisation announced it has secured adequate funding for the implementation of the first face of the real life testing billed to start early 2018. According to the statement, countries that participated in the phase three 3 clinical trial will be given priority in the pilot programme.
RTS is also the first malaria vaccine known to act globally against the malaria falciparum, the deadliest form of malaria that has killed over 100 million people and left about half the world population in danger. Majority of those deaths have occurred in sub-Saharan Africa and the region has recorded the most number of cases in recent. Hence WHO’s plan to stage the pilot programme in the area.
The WHO statement reads in part:
‘’Advanced clinical trials have shown RTS,S to provide partial protection against malaria in young children.”
According to the statement, the pilot programme is jointly funded by Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and UNITAID. The Global Fund tofight AIDS recently approved a sum of USD$ 15 million for the programme, while the Vaccine Alliance and UNITAID pledged US$ 27.5 million and US$ 9.6 million, respectively, for the first 4 years of the vaccine programme.
“The pilot deployment of this first-generation vaccine marks a milestone in the fight against malaria,” said Dr Pedro Alonso, Director of the WHO Global Malaria Programme. “These pilot projects will provide the evidence we need from real-life settings to make informed decisions on whether to deploy the vaccine on a wide scale.”
It was also stated that RTS,S was developed through a partnership between GlaxoSmithKline and the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and from a network of African research centres. However the statement added that, “as RTS,S is only partially effective, it will be essential that any vaccinated patients with a fever be tested for malaria, and that all those with a confirmed malaria diagnosis are treated with high quality, effective anti-malarial medicines.’’
