BBC Pidgin of Thursday, 13 April 2023
Source: BBC
Ghana be de first country to approve new malaria vaccine wey dem describe as “world-changer" by de scientists wey develope am.
De vaccine - wey dem call R21 - dey appear to be very effective compared to previous ventures in de same field.
Ghana drug regulators assess de final trial data on de safety of de vaccine and effectiveness, which no be public yet wey dem decide to use it.
De World Health Organization also dey consider approving de vaccine.
Malaria dey kill about 620,000 people each year, most of dem young children.
Dis be massive, century-long, scientific undertaking to develop a vaccine wey go protect de body from de malaria parasite.
Trial data from preliminary studies for Burkina Faso show say R21 vaccine dey up to 80% effective when dem give as three initial doses, and a booster a year later.
But widespread use of de vaccine dey rely on de results of a larger trial which dey involve nearly 5,000 children.
E be expected say dis go take place at de end of last year, but dem still no formally publish am.
However, dem share with some government bodies in Africa, den scientists.
Ghana FDA approve de vaccine for children
Food and Drugs Authority for Ghana wey see de data, approve de vaccine for use in children between age five months to three years old.
Other African countries also dey study de data, de World Health Organization also dey study am.
Prof Adrian Hill, director of Jenner Institute for University of Oxford, where dem invent de vaccine talk say African countries dey talk say “we go decide", after dem leave dem behind in de rollout of Covid-19 vaccines during de pandemic.
"We expect R21 to make a major impact on malaria mortality in children in de coming years, and in de longer term e go contribute to overall final goal of malaria eradication and elimination."
Construction of vaccine factory for Ghana
De Serum Institute of India dey prepare to produce between 100-200 million doses per year, meanwhile vaccine factory construction dey go on in Accra, Ghana.
Each dose of R21 go cost expected a couple of dollars.
Adar Poonawalla, CEO of de Serum Institute, say: "Developing vaccine wey go greatly impact dis huge disease burden be extraordinarily difficult."
He add say Ghana, as de first country to approve de vaccine dey represents “significant milestone in our efforts to combat malaria around de world".