East African country, Kenya, is expected to produce a malaria vaccine for children in a bid to prevent the killer disease. The vaccine which will be a combined effort of several African country is meant to tackle the killer disease.
The vaccine known as “RTS, S” will be rolled out in Kenya and Ghana in coming weeks after Malawi, with a combined target of vaccinating around 360,000 children a year until the end of 2022 across the three countries.
The pilot programme is meant to evaluate the feasibility of delivering the required four doses of RTS, S in real-life settings. Gavi — the Vaccine Alliance — the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and Unitaid are providing just under Sh5.1 billion (US$50 million) to fund the first phase of the exercise.
