Malaria Vaccine In The Horizon | The Frontier Telegraph

MALARIA VACCINE IN THE
HORIZON
Experimental Tests are Safe & Effective

Malaria kills more than one million people a year worldwide and sickens millions more, most of them children living in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Anopheles mosquito carries the pathogen that causes malaria

In a clinical trial in Mozambique of an experimental vaccine, two-hundred fourteen infants, ten to eighteen weeks of age were tested and the researchers found that - compared to those who were not vaccinated - the drug reduced the number of new infections in the infants by 65 percent, in a three month period. It also reduced the number of infants who became critically ill by 35 percent. The results of the malaria vaccine trial are published in the British medical journal The Lancet .

The vaccine by Britain-based GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has been in development for 20 years. The jab known as RTS,S is tentatively brand-named Mosquirix.

In collaboration with Africa-based research institutions, a series of Phase II clinical trials are ongoing in Mozambique, Tanzania, Gabon, Ghana and Kenya with other sites under consideration.

At the Delegation of Public Health in Bamenda, Dr. Cecile Tchekountou who is responsible for the malaria unit for the Northwest Province said her office was not aware of the study and could not confirm if Cameroon is being considered as one of the other sites under consideration.

The Northwest Provincial Delegation of Public Health however operates, since 2003, a malaria prevention and control unit with Health Districts in Ako, Bafut, Bali, Bamenda, Batibo, Benakuma, Kumbo East, Kumbo West, Ndop, Ndu, Njikwa, Nkambe, Santa, Tubah, Wum and most recently Nwa.

In addition, the government distributes insecticide-treated bed nets for free to pregnant women and children less than five years of age during consultations and during health campaigns. The nets can also be purchased for 3500CFA in provincial treatment units and ACMS sales points.

The highest incidence of malaria in the province was in Fundong and the lowest in Ako, according to statistics from 2006. The statistics also showed that 88,161 patients were consulted for clinical malaria and 55,842 were confirmed as malaria patients in 2006.

The vaccine, RTS,S may be in the market in 2011 if the Phase III trials that begins in the second half of 2008 goes as anticipated by the researchers. For the Phase III trials, additional sites are anticipated in Malawi, Burkina Faso and Kenya.

According to GSK, they are committed to making the vaccine available to those who need it - infants and children in malaria endemic regions in Africa. They hope to implement a tiered pricing with multilateral purchases so that low income countries like Cameroon would be able to afford the vaccine.

The malaria vaccine development shows that effective collaboration between private and public interest can lead to tangible results. The groups involved in this recent trial are the Centro de Investigação em Saude de Manhiça (CISM), the Ministry of Health of Mozambique (MOH); the Hospital Clinic of the University of Barcelona, Spain; GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (GSK) and the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (PATV/MVI). The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provided funding through a grant to PATH/MVI.

For more information of the study visit these websites: