Ghana has turned into the principal country to endorse a profoundly powerful jungle fever immunization created at Oxford College in the UK. Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority has approved the R21/Matrix-M vaccine for use in children between the ages of 5 and 36 months, the age group at greatest risk of malaria-related death, as the first vaccine to surpass the World Health Organization’s target of 75 percent efficacy.
More About the Oxford Malaria Vaccine
Prof. Adrian Hill, who is in charge of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University, which is part of the Nuffield Department of Medicine, stated: This is the result of 30 years of malaria vaccine research at Oxford: the creation of a vaccine with high efficacy that can be distributed to countries with a sufficient need.
However, observers cautioned that it was “no silver bullet” in the complicated battle against the disease spread by mosquitoes. The World Health Organization estimates that 619,000 people will die from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa in 2021, the majority of whom will be children. An estimated 5.3 million cases and 12,500 deaths were reported in Ghana, where the disease is endemic and ongoing.
The WHO still can’t seem to suggest the R21 immunization for boundless use and until it does there is a question mark over how much worldwide financing accessible for it. The vaccine is currently being tested in a phase 3 trial, but previous studies have demonstrated efficacy levels of 77%, which are maintained after a single booster dose is given a year later.
In contrast, the WHO issued a landmark recommendation in 2021 for the use of the RTS,S vaccine, which has lower levels of efficacy. The biotechnology powerhouse that is producing the R21 vaccine, the Serum Institute of India, claimed that it could produce more than 200 million doses annually.
The vaccine’s licensure by Ghanaian authorities, according to Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla, was a significant step forward in the fight against malaria.
Read More News: Click Here
