SeeVay is a baby product store that provides comprehensive safety checklists and a curated selection of high-quality, safe baby products. Our mission is to give new moms peace of mind by ensuring their baby’s safety is always top of mind.
Click here to sign in with or
Forget Password?
Learn more
share this!
Share
1
Share
Email
April 30, 2019
Ghana on Tuesday rolled out the world’s only proven malaria vaccine for infants as part of a landmark campaign against the deadly mosquito-borne disease, one week after Malawi became the first country to do so.
Malaria kills hundreds of thousands of people each year, mainly in Africa, and it is hoped a vaccine will bring down the toll.
Children are especially at risk, and babies were Ghana’s first vaccine recipients Tuesday in the town of Cape Coast, 150 kilometres (90 miles) west of the capital Accra.
“I hope this will help us to be able to eliminate malaria, so Ghana can be a malaria-free country,” said Justice Arthur, the doctor running the clinic.
The vaccines will be given to children between the ages of six months and two years, in a project run by Ghana’s health ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO).
“I am really hopeful that the vaccine is going to help me and my family,” said Abigail Aguanyi, a woman waiting to get her child, Blessing, vaccinated. Many of her family members had previously been stricken.
The vaccine, known by its lab initials RTS,S, has passed lengthy scientific trials which found it to be safe and effective at preventing about four in ten cases of malaria in infants—the best ever recorded.
To achieve this level of partial protection, four successive doses must be administered on a strict timetable—a challenge for rural Africa.
‘Exciting’
The rollout in Ghana, Malawi, and soon also Kenya, will seek to evaluate the vaccine’s effectiveness as a complementary tool, augmenting—but not replacing—measures such as insecticide-treated bed nets and the use of sprays.
It will also test the feasibility of administering the four required doses in children in areas of the world with limited access to healthcare.
Data from the programme will inform a WHO policy on the broader use of RTS,S.
Malaria is spread to people by mosquitoes, which transfer the parasite while sucking blood from humans. RTS,S is effective against the Plasmodium falciparum parasite most prevalent in Africa.
In Ghana alone, there were 5.5 million confirmed cases of malaria last year, and many more suspected.
Worldwide, the WHO says malaria killed 435,000 people worldwide in 2017.
The number of cases climbed to 219 million in 2017, two million more than in 2016. Over 90 percent of cases occurred in Africa.
“This is an exciting and long-awaited step forward to fight malaria and its devastating effects on the most vulnerable,” said WHO boss in Ghana, Owen Kaluwa.
© 2019 AFP
Explore further
Facebook
Twitter
Email
Feedback to editors
Jun 9, 2023
0
Jun 8, 2023
0
Jun 8, 2023
0
Jun 8, 2023
0
Jun 7, 2023
0
15 hours ago
Jun 9, 2023
Jun 9, 2023
Jun 9, 2023
Jun 9, 2023
Jun 9, 2023
Jun 9, 2023
Jun 9, 2023
Jun 9, 2023
Jun 9, 2023
Apr 22, 2019
Apr 30, 2019
Apr 23, 2019
Apr 24, 2017
Jul 24, 2014
Dec 8, 2015
Jun 9, 2023
Jun 9, 2023
Jun 8, 2023
Jun 8, 2023
Jun 8, 2023
Jun 8, 2023
Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page. For general inquiries, please use our contact form. For general feedback, use the public comments section below (please adhere to guidelines).
Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request
Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors.
Your feedback is important to us. However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages.
Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. Neither your address nor the recipient’s address will be used for any other purpose. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Medical Xpress in any form.
Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time and we’ll never share your details to third parties.
More information Privacy policy
Daily science news on research developments and the latest scientific innovations
The latest engineering, electronics and technology advances
The most comprehensive sci-tech news coverage on the web
This site uses cookies to assist with navigation, analyse your use of our services, collect data for ads personalisation and provide content from third parties. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
source
At SeeVay, we know that the safety and well-being of your baby is your top priority. That’s why we’re dedicated to providing you with the tools you need to make sure you’re always on top of your baby’s safety. We understand that being a new mom can be overwhelming, and there’s so much information out there that it can be hard to know where to start.
