Nigeria, Ghana Commended for Approving R21 Malaria vaccine
Public health experts in Africa are hailing the recent approval of the R21 Malaria vaccine in Ghana and Nigeria which was developed by the Oxford University’s Jenner Institute in the UK and partners around the world.
Some say the move could put the continent on a path to eradicating the disease, although that will take a long time to achieve.
“It is the beginning of the journey to eradication. But we are nowhere near that yet because eradication should take us to a point where we have heard immunity among the general population…But this is a step towards that,” renowned Ghanaian pharmacist and Development Fellow in Health with the Ghana Centre for Democracy and Development Dr Kwame Sarpong Asiedu, told Joy News in an interview.
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He says expanded access to malaria vaccines will help reduce the cost of health care on the continent because the use of vaccines to prevent malaria will be less expensive than the huge amounts spent on treating the disease.
“That is a key thing this vaccine will do and that is why people like myself are excited about it,” he said.
Dr Hubert Amu of the School of Public Health of the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ghana agrees that the approval is a good move for Africa.
“Malaria has been a problem for sub-Saharan Africa over the decades. So, it is great news that finally a vaccine has been approved for use in Ghana and Africa to prevent the disease,” he said.
SOURCE: My Joy
