Kinkini Gupta
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Written By: Kinkini Gupta | Updated : December 22, 2023 8:46 PM IST
Image credits by: WHO Prequalifies Second Malaria Vaccine: Why Is This An Important Step?
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has added the second malaria vaccine to its list of prequalified vaccines. The vaccine, R21/ Matrix-M malaria vaccine, was recommended by WHO for malaria treatment in October 2023. The R21 vaccine is the second malaria vaccine prequalified by the WHO, following the RTS, S/AS01 vaccine which obtained prequalification status in July 2022. This vaccine was developed by Oxford University and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.
The World Health Organization took an important step towards the prevention of vector-borne diseases by adding R21/ Matrix-M, the second malaria vaccine, to the list of prequalified vaccines. WHO recommended the use and administration of this vaccine to treat malaria in the month of October 2023.
WHO had defined a prequalified vaccine as one which has undergone the three important steps before it was approved. The first step is the thorough evaluation of the data relevant to the vaccine, the second step is the testing of samples and the last step is inspection of relevant manufacturing sites by WHO. Lastly, the result of all these steps should be positive only then it will be included in the WHO list of Prequalified Vaccines.
Malaria and other vector-borne diseases has become a huge burden especially in tropical countries which are prone to extreme and erratic rainfall, floods and waterlogging. Moreover, climate change has made the climate erratic and the variants of vector-borne diseases more active. Year by year, the number of death cases due to diseases like malaria and dengue are increasing. In the year 2022, 608000 people died globally due to malaria. This year, the death cases of dengue in India alone were huge. This is truly a huge stride in global health care. This vaccine has been manufactured especially for children living in malaria endemic areas.
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