Kenya is expected to rollout a malaria vaccine for children in a bid to prevent the disease that is a leading killer across the continent every year. The pilot programme is meant to evaluate the feasibility of delivering the required four doses of RTS, S in real-life settings. “There are over 250,000 deaths of children in Africa every year because of malaria,” said Mary Hamel, coordinator for the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme at the World Health Organisation. In one clinical trial, children who received doses of the vaccine had a lower chance of developing malaria and severe malaria, the WHO says. In clinical trials the vaccine was found to prevent approximately four in 10 malaria cases, as well as three in 10 cases of life-threatening severe malaria.

Source: Daily Nation April 25, 2019 07:18 UTC