•Ghana okays use for children under three
Nigeria is working to meet Tuesday’s deadline for submission of applications for the second phase of Malaria vaccine being coordinated by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) Faisal Shuaib, spoke yesterday, against the backdrop of news that Ghana had become the first country in the world to approve use of a new malaria vaccine from Oxford University, for chidlren under the age of 3.
The vaccine known as R21/Matrix-M.
The NPHCDA boss, in an interview with The Nation in Abuja, explained that Nigeria is among the few countries qualified for the second phase of applications for the malaria vaccine known as RTS,S/AS01.
He said that the Federal Government was not only working to ensure that the country has access to the malaria vaccines, but to other life-saving vaccines such as Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and Typhoid Fever vaccines, which will soon become a part of Nigeria’s Routine Immunization program.
In the first phase of the malaria vaccine pilot programme coordinated by WHO, over one million children in countries like Ghana, Kenya and Malawi received one or more doses of the RTS,S/AS01.
According to WHO, RTS,S/AS01 is a first-generation vaccine that could be complemented in the future by other vaccines with similar or higher efficacy like the R21/Matrix-M and other malaria vaccine candidates in early clinical development. Research has found that the effectiveness of RTS,S/AS01 produced by GSK is around 60 percent, and significantly wanes over time even with a booster dose.
But the R21 is described as a “world-changer” by the scientists who developed it. It appears to be hugely effective; up to 80 per cent effective at preventing malaria in research published last year in the Lancet.
Shuaib said: “The Malaria vaccine is a new entrant into the portfolio of vaccines to prevent ancient diseases.
“The global community is still collating data to assess the impact of this vaccine when deployed to communities. The experience from first phase countries such as Ghana will help inform the market and deployment imperatives of the next phase of eligible countries.
“Nigeria is among the few countries qualified to apply in the second phase of applications for the Malaria vaccine.
“We at NPHCDA and the development partnership are in the process of concluding the submission process before the April 18th deadline.
“We are also exploring other potential Malaria vaccines that have shown promise in clinical trials. Clearly, what this demonstrates is that widespread use of a vaccine to prevent malaria disease will soon be a commonplace in Malaria endemic countries such as Nigeria. So, there is a lot of excitement around how this will drastically reduce morbidity and mortality from Malaria.
“With a population of over 40 million children aged under five years in Nigeria, you can appreciate that the quantities of vaccines required to meet our needs is disparately huge compared to countries such as Ghana, with a population of just 20 million.
“Nevertheless, we are assiduously working with our donors and development partners to ensure that not only do our children have rapid access to the Malaria vaccine, but other life-saving vaccines such as Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and Typhoid Fever vaccines will soon become a part of Nigeria’s Routine Immunisation programme.”
