WHO
says funds secured for Africa pilots of world's first
malaria vaccine
Send a link to a friend
[November 18, 2016]
By Kate Kelland
LONDON (Reuters) - Funding for phase one of
pilot deployments of the world's first malaria vaccine in sub-Saharan
Africa has been secured and immunization campaigns will begin in 2018,
the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.
|
The vaccine, known as RTS,S or Mosquirix and developed by British
drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, is only partially effective and needs to
be given in a four-dose schedule, but is the first approved shot
against the mosquito-borne disease.
The WHO said last year that while RTS,S was promising, it should be
deployed only on a pilot basis before any wide-scale use, given its
limited efficacy.
Pedro Alonso, director of the WHO's Global Malaria Programme, said
on Thursday that securing funding and being able to trial the
vaccine in Africa pilots would be a milestone in the fight against
malaria.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Nov/18/images/ads/current/LPL_small%201.gif)
"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," he said.
The go-ahead comes after the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis
and Malaria on Thursday approved $15 million for the malaria vaccine
pilots, assuring full funding for the first phase of the programme.
Earlier this year, the GAVI Vaccine Alliance and UNITAID announced
commitments of up to $27.5 million and $9.6 million respectively for
the first four years of the programme.
[to top of second column] |
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Nov/18/images/ads/current/mb_heating_quarter_FHI_2016.png)
Malaria infects around 200 million people a year worldwide and
killed an estimated 440,000 in 2015. The vast majority of malaria
deaths are among babies in sub-Saharan Africa.
RTS,S was developed by GSK in partnership with the non-profit PATH
Malaria Vaccine Initiative and part-funded by the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Mark Potter)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Nov/18/images/ads/current/Martin_Farms_daily_sda_2015.png)
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Nov/18/images/ads/current/ldn_business_directory_small_2016.png) |