Millions of additional children to benefit from the world's leading malaria vaccine: UNICEF

Pharmaceutical company GSK has obtained a contract to produce the world's first vaccine in the world so that millions of additional children are protected from Killer's disease, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced on Tuesday. |
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The Historic Award, valued at up to $ 170 million, will lead to 18 million doses of the RTS, which is available in the next three years, which could save thousands of young lives annually. The delivery of this malaria vaccine will bring hope to so many families. In 2020, almost half a million children from malaria in Africa alone, a rate of one per minute. Malaria is still one of the largest of children under five years. In 2020, almost half a million children of the disease in Africa alone, a rate of one per minute. ‘Giant Step advance’

Etleva Kadilli, director of the UNICEF Supply Division, said the deployment sends a clear message to malaria vaccine developers to continue their work. “We hope this is just the beginning. Continuous innovation is needed to develop new and next -generation vaccines to increase the available supply and allow a healthier vaccine market, ”she said. "This is a giant step in our collective efforts to save the life of children and reduce the load of malaria as part of the broader programs for prevention and control of malaria." Preventable disease

Malaria is caused by parasites and transmitted to humans through infected female anopheles mosquitoes. While the disease is preventable and curable, it can be fatal if it is not. More than 30 countries have areas with moderate to high malaria transmission, according to data from the World Health Organization, and the vaccine could provide additional protection to more than 25 million children every year once the supply increases. The RTS malaria vaccine, the result of 35 years of research and development, is the first vaccine against a parasitic disease. Pilot program

It was launched in a 2019 pilot program, coordinated by WHO, in three countries, Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, which has reached more than 800,000 children. Last October, the UN Health Agency recommended its generalized use in countries with moderate to high malaria transmission. That December, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, made the decision to provide funds for malaria vaccine programs in eligible countries, thus opening the route for the broader deployment of the vaccine. Gavi's children in Kenya are the most vulnerable to malaria infections. The "financing window" was opened

CEO Seth Barkley reported that Gavi recently opened the "application window" for financing applications. "Thanks to UNICEF's acquisition work, we now have more certainty about the supply and we can move

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