Cameroon is home to the first systematic vaccination campaign against malaria, which is expected to save thousands of African children.
The world's first routine immunization program against the mosquito-borne disease started Monday, January 22, marking a step forward in the worldwide battle against the infection.
Malaria kills almost half a million children under the age of five every year in Africa. The RTS,S vaccine, produced by British pharmaceutical GSK and licensed by the World Health Organization (WHO), is intended to complement current methods of combating the disease, such as using bed nets.
According to Reuters, the global vaccination alliance Gavi said 19 additional countries want to implement a regular program this year after successful trials in countries like Ghana and Kenya. Cameroon is the first country to give doses under this initiative.
Vaccination against malaria is scheduled to continue for around 6.6 million children in these nations from 2024 until 2025.
Five girls and one boy, all six months old, were reportedly vaccinated at Cliniques des Anges hospital in Douala on Monday, according to the institution's manager, Caroline Badefona. "It went very well. We are proud to have this programme in place because it will eradicate malaria in children aged six to 59 months," she said.
Reuters also reported that 12 youngsters were vaccinated early on Monday at a health center in the Datcheka area of northern Cameroon. In an interview with Reuters, health professionals at several centers said that parents hesitated to vaccinate their children because they had not been given enough information. Some people had no idea the campaign had begun.
At the Japoma District Hospital in Douala, a mother named Audrey Stella rejected vaccination. "The reason I didn't accept is because I wasn't made aware of it - I didn't know it existed," she explained.
Reportedly, some are also reluctant to get a vaccination because they are worried about the dosages' safety and effectiveness. But vaccination official Daniele Ekoto spoke to BBC, reassuring that it is "safe, effective, and free."
"When people say we are being used as guinea pigs, that's not particularly true," Wilfred Fon Mbacham, a Cameroonian royal and professor of public health biotechnology focusing on malaria. "We as scientists have to do much more to educate the public on what it is, and the benefits it has, so that we can calm their fears."
The Epidemic in Africa
The death toll from malaria is disproportionately high in Africa. WHO recorded 580,000 deaths and 233 million instances of malaria in the area in 2022.
Mosquito bites are the entry point for the complex parasite responsible for this disease. The greatest strategy to avoid malaria, even when vaccinations are being distributed in certain regions, is to keep an eye on the cases and avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.
Cape Verde is the most recent African country to achieve malaria-free status.
