Soa (Cameroon) (AFP) – This Monday, Cameroon launched the world’s first systematic vaccination campaign against malaria, AFP journalists confirmed. The WHO called this initiative a “historic milestone.”
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As nurses sang, six-month-old Noah Nga received his first injection of the RTS,S vaccine at a small hospital in Soa, 20 km from the capital Yaounde.
A relief for Helen Akono, Noah’s mother, who also came to get his twin sister Judith vaccinated.
“Some parents are reluctant, but I know vaccines are good for children,” he told AFP.
The Cameroon government has identified 42 priority districts for this vaccination campaign in the country of about 28 million people.
Malaria, also known as malaria, is a disease transmitted to humans through the bites of certain mosquitoes.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the disease kills more than 600,000 people every year, 95% of them in Africa. On this continent, children under 5 years of age account for more than 80% of these victims.
On November 21, Cameroon received more than 300,000 doses of the RTS,S malaria vaccine from British pharmaceutical group GSK, the first vaccine approved and recommended by WHO.
Thanks to the campaign, the vaccine will be offered free of charge and systematically to all children under six months of age, along with other classic, mandatory or recommended vaccines.
The RTS,S vaccine has been tested since 2019 in pilot programs in three African countries – Kenya, Ghana and Malawi – and in a limited number of locations.
The launch of the world’s first large-scale malaria vaccination campaign in Cameroon is being funded by the vaccine alliance Gavi, according to WHO, which is coordinating it.
The next countries to soon launch similar campaigns will be Burkina Faso, Liberia, Niger and Sierra Leone, the UN health agency said.
The Geneva-based WHO hailed Cameroon’s campaign, which it called a “historic milestone” and said it “could make a difference in the fight against malaria and save tens of thousands of lives every year.”
It remains to be seen whether the population will accept the vaccine. “Malaria kills so many people that it is being adopted en masse by the concerned population,” said Dr. Willis Ahwale, special adviser to the Kenya committee of the End Malaria Global Fund, co-chaired by Bill Gates.
© 2024 AFP
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