New vaccine candidate provides breakthrough in the fight against malaria
A malaria vaccine candidate tested on children in West Africa has shown an efficacy of around 77 per cent, say scientists, hailing it as a breakthrough in the fight against the disease.
Malaria causes more than 400,000 deaths a year globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), mostly among children in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The R21/Matrix-M vaccine, developed by the Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro (CRUN), Burkina Faso and their partners at the University of Oxford in the UK, is the first malaria vaccine to reach the 75 per cent efficacy target set by the WHO.
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BY: News Desk Report
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Pharmaceutical company, Novartis, has called for increased leadership commitment towards the prevention and treatment of malaria.
The company, in a statement issued to mark World Malaria Day, said although the disease was preventable and curable, millions of children died each year from it.
“Leaders must reinforce their commitments in drawing the line against this preventable and treatable disease in achieving a malaria-free world because the patient cannot wait,” the statement, titled, “No one should die of malaria” said.
World Malaria Day, marked each year on April 25, is an occasion to highlight the need for continued investment and sustained commitment towards malaria prevention and control.
The Managing Director of Ecobank Ghana, Mr Daniel Sackey at the official press briefing of the 2021 World Malaria Day held on April 28, 2021, at the Ecobank Head Office auditorium under the theme “Zero Malaria, Draw the line against Malaria” said that it is an opportunity to evaluate the progress made so far.
According to him, Ecobank being a financial institution that is keen on impacting positively the health of people living in the communities it operates has partnered with the National Malaria Control Programme as it leads the fight towards the elimination of this endemic disease.
Addressing the stakeholders at the press briefing, Mr Sackey said that World Malaria Day affords the stakeholders in the fight against malaria the opportunity to evaluate their progress and strengthen their resolve in the fight against the disease that remains the highest cause of morbidity in Ghana.
World Malaria Day marked in Accra - Ghanaian Times ghanaiantimes.com.gh - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ghanaiantimes.com.gh Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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The National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) has laid out a five-year national strategic plan to help scale up malaria control and prevention in the country.
Strategies for the plan, which begins this year, comprise larvae source management, distribution of insecticide treated nets (ITN), mass campaign, as well as case management in all districts in the country.
That is to help reduce malaria mortality by 90 per cent, reduce malaria case incidence by 50 per cent, and achieve malaria per-elimination in at least six districts in the country by 2025.
This was disclosed by the Programme Manager of the NMCP, Dr Keziah Malm, in Accra yesterday at a press briefing on the 2021 World Malaria Day.