A Malaria Vaccine
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine recently approved by Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) will still need to be subjected to more trials.
WHO Country Representative to Nigeria, Dr Walter Mulombo, told Journalists in Abuja on Tuesday that the trials would be recommended by the WHO.
Dr Mulombo said it is important for Nigeria to develop adequate policy funding and education to attain zero-malaria cases.
The WHO Country Representative to Nigeria said the country has 76% of the world’s unvaccinated children, making it the second largest in the world.
He said vaccines, such as the RTSS adopted by Ghana and Kenya, were very effective; as such, the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine needs to be at the same level with it.
The federal government recently granted provisional approval for the Malaria Vaccine, R21/Matrix, developed by scientists at Oxford University.
According to the Director-General, NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye, the vaccine is indicated for prevention of clinical malaria in children from five months to 36 months of age.
Writing by Oluwaseyi Ajibade; Editing by Tony Okerafor