ABIDJAN, Nov 5 (AFP): A ground-breaking vaccine against malaria has stoked hopes in Africa of rolling back a disease that claims hundreds of thousands of lives a year, many of them youngsters.
Since 2019, Ghana, Kenya and Malawi have immunised more than 800,000 children under a pilot programme using the RTS,S vaccine.
It is the first to show significant protection against the parasite-borne disease, cutting the risk of severe malaria by 30 percent, trials have shown.
On October 9, the World Health Organization (WHO), after sifting through the results of the pilot scheme, recommended the vaccine for children aged above five months in locations with malaria risk.
Some 260,000 children under five die from malaria each year in Africa, which accounts for about 90 percent of the global caseload.
"From a scientific perspective this is a massive breakthrough," said Pedro Alonso, director of the WHO Global Malaria Programme.
Djermakoye Hadiza Jackou, coordinator of Niger's National Malaria Control Programme (PNLP), said the WHO announcement was "welcomed with great joy."
"This is something that was eagerly awaited."
Pointing to a major issue in vaccine rollouts, the WHO said it found "strong" public demand for the jab. The vaccine is made by the British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), with the commercial name of Mosquirix.
Many parents who spoke to AFP also warmly supported the vaccine, although some were hesitant about possible side effects.
"I'm super excited about it," said Hajia Aminu Bawa in southern Ghana's Gomoa region, the mother of an 11-month-old girl.
"My child took the vaccine and nothing happened... I want to encourage every family with children below age two to go for the vaccine because it will go a long way to save lives."
The vaccine aims to trigger the immune system to defend against the first stages of malaria.
The WHO says that the main side effects can include soreness at the injection site and fever, a similar reaction seen in other vaccines given to children.
Prince Gyamfi, the mother of a six-month-old boy in Gomoa, said she didn't hesitate to get her child vaccinated.
"I have read about vaccines and how they work. I voluntarily came to vaccinate my child and so far nothing has happened," she said.
"Some people discouraged me from giving him the vaccine because they said it's new and can kill him but I think they said it out of ignorance."
In Niger, which was not included in the pilot programme, AFP spoke to a mother named Fati, who was waiting outside a private clinic in Niamey, where her child was hospitalised with a new bout of malaria.
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