Photo: UNICEF
Every day across the globe children die from preventable diseases. One of the biggest and most preventable killers is malaria. Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes. According to the World Malaria Report 2010, there were 225 million cases of malaria and an estimated 781 000 deaths in 2009, a decrease from 233 million cases and 985 000 deaths in 2000. Most deaths occur among children living in Africa, where a child dies every 45 seconds from malaria and the disease accounts for approximately 20% of all childhood deaths.
Approximately half of the world’s population is at risk of malaria. Most malaria cases and deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. However, Asia, Latin America, and to a lesser extent the Middle East and parts of Europe are also affected. In 2009, malaria was present in 108 countries and territories. Children are the most susceptible for the transmission of malaria due to their under developed protective immunity against the most severe forms of the disease. However, pregnant women are also at high risk for transmission and malaria brings a high rate of miscarriage (up to 60% in P. falciparum infection) and maternal death rates of 10–50% , according to the WHO. An estimated 200,000 infants die annually as a result of malaria infection during pregnancy.
Bed nets treated with insecticide have been the biggest and most sought after form of prevention to the spread of malaria, however efforts to produce an effective malaria vaccine for children and adults have been unsuccessful due to the difficulty of producing a vaccine against a parasite. The cost of fighting and treating malaria has been crippling on economies. “Beyond causing disease and deaths, malaria saps many developing nations’ economies, accounting for 40 percent of medical costs, up to half of all hospitalizations and 60 percent of all visits to health clinics.”
“Our intention is to supply this vaccine at the lowest cost possible,” said Glaxo’s chief executive, Andrew Witty. “We have no intention of making a profit here.” (The Washington Post)
Global anti-malaria efforts were given a boost on Tuesday when news was released regarding an experimental vaccine that, for the first time, considerably diminished the risk of African children catching malaria. The new vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline, is administered via a shot and has been given to more than 15,000 infants in seven African countries in the past two years. The two year trial period has shown a reduced infection risk by half and also lowered the risk of contracting a potentially fatal case of malaria by 47%.
“We are very happy with the results. We have never been closer to having a successful malaria vaccine,” said Christian Loucq, director of the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (Reuters).
While the vaccine is still technically in a trial stage, it shows great hope for the future health of children across the globe, especially in Africa. However, 106 countries are affected by malaria. More details of the study results were released in the The New England Journal of Medicine, who published the full findings online, along with this editorial.
