Ghana Approves Oxford Anti-Malaria Vaccine, Targets Children Under 3

A novel malaria vaccine developed by Oxford University has received approval in Ghana, making it the first nation in the world with children under the age of three to benefit from the vaccine.

The Oxford Scientist Adrian Hill has said that Ghana drug regulator has licensed the vaccine for the age group most at risk of dying from malaria- infants between the age of 5- 36 months.

Hill said a contract has been signed with the Serum Institute of India to provide about 200 million doses yearly.

According to the scientist, this is the first time a significant vaccination has been licensed first in an African country before being distributed to wealthy nations. He added that it was remarkable for an African regulatory body to have evaluated the data earlier than the WHO.

“Particularly since COVID, African regulators have been taking a much more proactive stance, they’ve been saying…we don’t want to be last in the queue,” Hill said.

The Oxford vaccine nevertheless is unclear when it will be rolled out in Ghana.

The World Health Organization World Malaria Report revealed that the African region continues to bear the brunt of malaria with 234 million cases and 593, 000 deaths in 2021.

It noted that four countries accounted for nearly half of all malaria cases globally— Nigeria most hit with 26.6 per cent cases higher followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo 12.3 per cent, Uganda 5.1 per cent, Mozambique 4.1 percent,Burkina Faso 3.3 per cent, Mali 3.1per cent and Ghana 2.2 per cent.

Malaria is a life-threatening disease that spread to humans through the bites of some infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.

The disease can also be transmitted through blood transfusion and contaminated needles.
Symptoms of malaria are fever, headache, fatigue, seizure, convulsion, and difficulty in breathing depending on how mild or severe the case may be.

Malaria may cause death however, it is curable and preventable when detected early.

International Organizations such as Gavi and UNICEF are at the forefront of providing childhood vaccines in Africa, however, the safety and efficacy of the vaccine must have been assessed and authorized by the World Health Organization.

After decades of research, WHO last year approved the first malaria vaccine, Mosquirix from the British pharmaceutical company GSK (GSK.L). However, the company’s ability to create as many dosage as required was hindered by a lack of capital and commercial feasibility.

Up to 15 million doses of Mosquirix will be produced annually by GSK through 2028, which is far less than the about 100 million doses a year of the four-dose vaccination that the WHO estimates will be required in the long run to cover about 25 million children.

It said Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi were a part of the Mosquirix pilot program and have just started implementing it more in recent months.

According to WHO, three regions were administered vaccine last month and all-cause child mortality rate has decreased by 10%, providing evidence of its impact. It added that since the pilot program started in 2019, 1.2 million children across the three nations have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine.

In September, mid-stage findings from the Oxford vaccine experiment involving more than 400 young infants were released. At 12 months after the fourth dosage, vaccination effectiveness was 80% in the group that received a greater dose of the immune-stimulating adjuvant and 70% in the group that received a lesser dose.

It revealed that before the malaria season peaked, doses were administered in Burkina Faso.
Also, a medical journal is anticipated to publish the results of a phase III clinical trial with 4,800 children that is now taking place in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali, and Tanzania.

Hill noted that regulatory agencies over the past six months, have been provided with late-stage data that supports a similar vaccine performance as that of the phase II trial.