Malawi registers success in Malaria Vaccine Pilot Program

The Ministry of Health in Malawi says children are responding positively to the malaria vaccine currently being piloted in the country, along with two other nations.

Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda shared this update during the opening of a 3 day International Peer Learning Workshop in Lilongwe. The workshop aims to highlight interventions that the country is putting in place for the realization of the said positive responses.

According to Chiponda, “Over 6 million people were diagnosed with malaria. This means that malaria still remains a challenge in our country, hence we need to scale up our efforts towards addressing it.” She attributed climate change as a contributing factor to the failure to combat the disease.

 “The good thing is that our children in 12 districts where we are piloting the exercise are responding well to being protected from malaria.”

The workshop has drawn participants from several African countries, including Sudan.

World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representative Neema Kimambo commended Malawi for its progress in combating malaria but emphasized the need to scale up efforts. “Malawi is not there yet, but we have seen a significant progress in reducing the malaria burden and malaria deaths.”

She noted that many Sub-Saharan countries are struggling with malaria, but she believes the situation will improve.

“As you know, malaria is implemented in some districts, and the country is in the process of writing an application so that the vaccine can then be expanded to other parts of the country, and we believe this will bring the much-needed improvement.”

UNICEF country representative in Malawi, Shadrack Omol remarked, “For other countries to visit the country on a peer learning mission should be seen as an indicator of positive strides the vaccine is catalyzing.”

Malawi began administering the Malaria vaccine in 2019