GENEVA — The fight against malaria got a boost on Wednesday as the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the widespread use of an existing vaccine, the first time the U.N. organization has backed a malaria treatment.
Known as RTS,S, the vaccine will now be recommended for widespread use in children living south of the Sahara, and in any other region with high incidences of malaria, according to the WHO.
“This is a historic moment. The long-awaited malaria vaccine for children is a breakthrough for science, child health and malaria control,” said WHO leader Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He said that, in conjunction with prevention systems already in use, the vaccine could save tens of thousands of lives a year.
The recommendation follows pilot projects including about 800,000 children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi. Deadly incidences of the disease declined by 30% among those who were inoculated, the WHO said. Tedros stressed that the vaccine is safe.
There are about 200 million new malaria infections every year, predominantly in Africa. Some people get infected multiple times in a single year. The disease also claims around 400,000 lives a year, most of them children aged 5 or less. African countries experience 94% of malaria deaths.
Malaria is caused by the plasmodium parasite, which is spread by mosquito bite. People who are infected suffer from fever, chills, nausea, exhaustion and muscle and joint pain. In severe cases, the patient will suffer shortness of breath, cramps and bleeding.
People with severe cases usually die without medical attention. The vaccine works against the deadliest of the malaria parasites, plasmodium falciparum.
Efforts have been made during the last 20 years to protect people against malaria, with much of the focus on using mosquito nets treated with insecticide while people sleep. That has helped reduce infection rates, but the decline has stagnated of late.
RTS,S was developed by British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline with the support of PATH, an initiative to promote malaria vaccines.
