Benin, Liberia and Sierra Leone, on Thursday, launched large-scale malaria vaccine programmes under an Africa-focused initiative that hopes to save tens of thousands of children’s lives per year across the continent.
The three West African countries are the latest to participate after successful rollouts of routine malaria immunisation for children in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, the global vaccine alliance GAVI said in a statement.
The World Health Organisation,( WHO) approved vaccine is meant to work alongside existing tools such as bed nets to combat malaria, which in Africa kills nearly half a million children under the age of 5 each year.
“This introduction, will help save lives and offer relief to families, communities and hard-pressed health systems,” said Aurelia Nguyen, GAVI chief programme officer.
