Yesterday, to mark World Malaria Day, I was privileged to attend the Liberian launch of the malaria vaccine at St Francis Hospital in Cestos City, River Cess County, along with the Speaker of the House, the Minister of Health and the World Health Organisation.
By Kate Thomson, UK Chargé d’Affaires
Despite the distance from Monrovia, I was determined to be there to witness this historic event, given the UK’s involvement in the development and roll-out of the vaccine. Collaboration between British scientists and Indian manufacturers has resulted in two malaria vaccines, RTS,S and R21. The former was developed by UK pharmaceuticals company GSK and the latter by Oxford University’s Jenner Institute, and both have been recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for use in children.
RTS, S has been shown to be safe and effective in three pilot countries, Ghana, Kenya and Malawi with 2 million children vaccinated since 2019. In January Cameroon became the first new country to routinely give children a malaria vaccine as the vaccines were rolled out in Africa. And yesterday, on World Malaria Day, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Benin began their first roll out of the RTS,S vaccine, marking a significant milestone in ending malaria.
I have seen from our staff at the Embassy and their families the toll that malaria takes on the health and well-being of Liberians, with children under the age of five and pregnant women most affected. The most recent surveys show that malaria remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality, accounting for 34% of all outpatient consultations and 48% of all inpatient cases in Liberia. Children under the age of five years account for 35% of all malaria cases and 34% of inpatient deaths, and around 45% of children aged 6-59 months suffer from malaria, with the highest rates in the South East of the country.
Whilst the vaccine needs to be used in combination, and not in place of, other existing malaria control tools such as insecticide-treated bednets, preventative drug treatment and indoor insecticide spraying, latest results show that it will cut deaths by 13% and reduce severe malaria cases by 22%. Anyone who has seen a young child suffering from malaria will welcome this, and the UK looks forward to the roll-out of these
vaccines in the coming weeks beyond Rivercess, into Grand Gedeh, Grand Kru, Maryland, River Gee and Sinoe Counties.
I am proud that the UK is one of the largest donors to Gavi, the Global Vaccine Alliance, which is aiming to immunise more than 6 million children against malaria by the end of 2025. Yesterday, the UK announced new funding of £7.4 million to support MedAccess, which aims to reduce the cost of a range of health products for HIV, TB and malaria. MedAccess will sign long-term price and supply agreements with drug manufacturers so that these lifesaving drugs can be sold at lower prices, reaching the most vulnerable, and helping 120 million patients to receive anti-malarial treatments.
Yesterday, UK Deputy Foreign Secretary and Minister for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, said:
“Thanks to British science, we now have life-saving malaria vaccines which will protect millions of people.
“But we also need to make sure we are making available drugs at the best possible price to the countries that most need them. Deaths from malaria are entirely preventable and the UK’s support for MedAccess will ensure that countries can afford to offer their people the best protection against the disease.”
Thank you to the people of Cestos City yesterday for their warm welcome, and congratulations to the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization for all their work on the vaccine roll-out. The UK looks forward to continuing to support a vision of Liberia where every child can grow up to fulfil their potential and where the scourge of malaria is firmly relegated to history.
