Malaria vaccine'll reduce Ghana's health burden - Anaba

The executive director of the Africa Center for Health Policy Research and Analysis, Dr Thomas Anaba, has expressed excitement at the approval of the world’s first malaria vaccine.

According to him, doctors in Ghana are delighted with the approval of the Mosquirix vaccine and fully welcome its usage.

Speaking to Class News, Dr Anaba revealed that malaria used to top all cases in the Out-Patient Departments (OPDs) of hospitals and, therefore, the approval of this vaccine will have positive effects on the country’s health sector and the economy as a whole.

“Having a vaccine that would reduce the burden of malaria on any country in the world is very welcome”, he said.

“Young children who are the most vulnerable and pregnant women dying from malaria will reduce and monies used in buying malaria test kits will minimise”, he added.

Dr Anaba further stated that the introduction of the vaccine will reduce the amount of workload on doctors, thus, allowing them to focus on other diseases.

“It is a very good initiative for the economy because the importation of malaria medicines will go down and there will be more money left”, he further stated.

The Mosquirix vaccine was approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) based on results from ongoing research in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi that has tracked more than 800,000 children since 2019.