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West Africa Marks World Malaria Day With Life-Saving Vaccines

Benin, Liberia and Sierra Leone marked a significant step toward malaria prevention this week when the three countries seperately launched  large-scale rollouts of the life-saving malaria vaccine targeting millions of children across West Africa. The move, announced on World Malaria Day, further scales up the deployment of vaccine in the African region.This now brings to eight the number of countries on the continent to offer the malaria vaccine as part of childhood immunization programs.

Despite recent strides, the battle against malaria faces daunting challenges, particularly in addressing disparities in access to prevention, detection, and treatment services. Vulnerable groups such as infants, children under five, pregnant women, refugees, migrants, and indigenous people bear a disproportionate burden, exacerbated by socio-economic factors and climate change.

In 2022 there were an estimated 608,000 malaria-related deaths and 249 million new malaria cases globally, with young children in Africa bearing the brunt of the disease, reports WHO. Africa suffers more than any other region from malaria, with 94% of cases and 95% of deaths worldwide.

InFocus

InFocus

Tetiana Gaviuk

Patient with severe malaria (file photo)

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