Hardest-hit Nigeria is latest African country to provide malaria vaccine to young children

BAYELSA, Nigeria (AP) — Ominike Marvis has lost count of the number of times her 6-year-old son has had malaria. So when Nigeria started offering a malaria vaccine, she was eager to protect her youngest child.

She took the 6-month-old baby to get his first shot at a health center in hard-hit Bayelsa state, where the country's vaccination campaign kicked off last week. The vaccine aims to prevent severe illnesses and deaths from the mosquito-borne disease.

“At least I know he’s safe from it now,” Marvis, 31, said.

Africa accounts for the vast majority of malaria in the world. Nigeria, the continent's most populous country, has the biggest burden with about a quarter of the cases.

According to a World Health Organization report released Wednesday, there were an estimated 263 million cases of malaria and 597,000 deaths worldwide last year, mostly in children under 5. That is 11 million more malaria cases compared to 2022 with nearly the same number of deaths.

“No one should die of malaria, yet the disease continues to disproportionately harm people living in the African region, especially young children and pregnant women,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, calling for more support.

There are now 17 countries giving new malaria vaccines to young children, the WHO report said. Nigeria began its campaign last week, offering a vaccine developed by Oxford University.

Research suggests it is more than 75% effective at preventing severe disease and death in the first year and that protection is extended for at least another year with a booster.

Nigeria’s health minister, Muhammad Ali Pate, called the vaccination campaign a “monumental step” in the country’s efforts to eliminate malaria.

The disease is caused by a parasite that is spread through mosquito bites. Experts say other measures like bed nets and insecticide spraying remain essential to curb the disease.

Experts say Nigeria's population of more than 210 million people, as well as its climate, contribute to its high malaria burden, but so do other factors like poor sanitation and limited tools like treated bed nets.

Besides the lack of funding, WHO report said countries with malaria still grapple with fragile health systems, weak surveillance and drug and insecticide resistance.

But progress has also been made on several fronts, the report said, including in the African region where countries have achieved a 16% reduction in malaria deaths since 2015. And in 83 countries where malaria is present, 25 of them now report fewer than 10 cases a year, the report said.

In the oil-rich but poor Bayelsa state, among the worst-hit in Nigeria, malaria is so common in riverside communities that mothers spoke of how no one in their family has been spared.

“Here, malaria is something we are used to,” said Claris Okah, a community health worker.

Among the challenges health workers like Okah face is hesitancy among parents, so they are educating families about the new vaccine and other steps to prevent malaria.

“The vaccine is a good thing," Okah siad.

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Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria.

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