Historic Moment: WHO Approves the World’s First Malaria Vaccine “Mosquirix or RTS,S/AS01”

Abstract

On October 6, 2021, the World Health Organization approved the first vaccine against malaria after a nearly seven-decade global battle against the disease that claims more than 4 lakh lives each year. The WHO has recommended a widespread deployment of the vaccine Mosquirix or RTS,S/AS01 developed by GlaxoSmithKline for children below five years in sub-Saharan Africa and other at-risk regions. The WHO has recommended the use of the RTS,S malaria vaccine, which GlaxoSmithKline produces. It is the first malaria vaccine to be recommended by the global health body. It follows a review of two years of piloting studies of the vaccine in three sub-Saharan African countries with a high burden of malaria: Malawi, Kenya, and Ghana. After careful evaluation and extensive discussion, the WHO concluded that the vaccine should be recommended for use in children living in areas of moderate to high malaria burden.