Vaccine developers must share the know-how behind a groundbreaking new malaria jab so it can be rolled out efficiently to poor populations in
"We need to start having this conversation around tech transfer and IP," said Nicaise Ndembi, advisor to the director general of Africa
"All these pharmaceutical companies are not based in
In 2021, 619,000 people died from malaria, 96 per cent of them in the
"All these pharmaceutical companies are not based in
The R21/Matrix-M vaccine, developed by the
It could fill a major supply gap as the 18 million doses of RTS,S available for rollout in 2023-25 fall well short of the needs of malaria endemic countries, says the WHO.
"This second vaccine holds real potential to close the huge demand-and-supply gap," said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO director for the
African vaccine manufacturing
In 2021, the
Africa
The Matrix-M part of the vaccine name relates to patented technology developed by US biotechnology company
SciDev.Net asked
The
Cost
The vaccine is expected to cost between
Over 400 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa live on less than
She said children, including those in rural areas, would be immunised as part of a national immunisation programme from the age of five months, with a scheduled course of follow-up doses.
"So, wherever vaccination services exist, the children will be able to access the malaria vaccine," she said.
"The only role that countries need to play now is to order the vaccines on time and make sure that they are distributed to all vaccine sites, and that the health workers are trained on how to store and how to administer the vaccines to these children."
At least 28 African countries plan to introduce a WHO-recommended malaria vaccine as part of their national immunisation programmes and Gavi, the
The RTS,S vaccine will be delivered in some countries in early 2024, while the R21 malaria vaccine is expected to become available in mid-2024, the WHO said. It stressed that both vaccines were equally safe and effective in preventing malaria in children.
100 million doses
R21 received WHO recommendation following advice from the
The vaccine is now undergoing the process for WHO prequalification so that it can be rolled out globally where needed. Once it has this authorisation, it can be offered through Gavi's vaccine programmes, which individual countries need to apply for.
"However, this will depend on the finances of malaria-endemic countries and their donors, which, since the COVID-19 pandemic, has been challenging.
"Every dollar spent on R21 is a dollar not spent on potentially more cost-effective malaria prevention measures, such as bed nets."
He said future WHO guidance should "avoid a one-size-fits-all approach and instead support local decision-making" based on countries needs and budgets.
This piece was produced by SciDev.Net's Global desk.
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