"As a malaria researcher, I dreamed of the day when we would have a safe and effective malaria vaccine. Now we have two," Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference.

WHO "recommends a second vaccine called R21/Matrix-M to prevent malaria in children at risk of contracting the disease," following advice from its Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) and its Malaria Management Policy Advisory Group (MPAG).

This very old disease, which causes fever, headache and chills to become a serious or even fatal condition if left untreated, has caused the death of 2021,619 people worldwide in 000.

Other WHO experts are still evaluating manufacturing and other regulatory aspects, said Dr Kate O'Brien, director of WHO's Department of Immunization and Vaccines.

Once the final go-ahead is obtained, UNICEF and the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) will be able to administer the vaccine, which is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. However, its use has already been authorized by authorities in Ghana, Nigeria and Burkina Faso.

"Very big steps forward"

In 2021, another vaccine, "RTS,S", produced by British pharmaceutical giant GSK, became the first vaccine to be recommended by WHO to prevent malaria in children in areas with moderate to high disease transmission.

Both vaccines have similar efficacy rates around 75% when administered under the same conditions.

"Costing between US$2 and US$4 (€1.90 to €3.81) per dose, this vaccine is comparable to other recommended malaria methods and other childhood vaccines," Tedros said.

It is therefore a "very big step forward" for the dozens of countries that want to obtain serums against this scourge, said Dr O'Brien.

By 2026, WHO and partners expect requests of up to 60 million doses per year. By 2030, this figure is expected to rise to 100 million, Gavi said in a statement.

Transmitted by mosquitoes

Pilot programmes to introduce "RTS,S" in three African countries – Ghana, Kenya and Malawi – have enabled more than 1.7 million children to receive at least one dose of vaccine since 2019.

In July, WHO, Gavi and UNICEF jointly announced that 18 million doses of the malaria vaccine will be allocated to 12 African countries in 2023-2025.

Caused by a parasite transmitted by mosquitoes, malaria remains a formidable scourge, especially for African children, due in particular to growing resistance to treatment.

The vast majority of cases and deaths occur in Africa.

"Since 2000, malaria deaths have more than halved and we have managed to eliminate malaria in many parts of the world," but this progress is not enough, Tedros said.

Dengue and meningitis

The malaria vaccine is not the only one that WHO's SAGE group discussed at its meeting last week.

Experts also recommended a new dengue vaccine, Qdenga, for 6-16 year olds living in areas where the disease is a significant public health problem.

They also recommended a new meningitis vaccine, called Men5CV, which protects against five species of bacteria that cause the disease.

As for the fight against Covid-19, these experts considered that for most vaccines, a single dose was now sufficient for primary vaccination against the disease since most people have already been infected at least once.

© 2023 AFP