The World Health Organization is calling it a ‘historic’ step for the children of Cameroon: The country is launching the world’s first malaria vaccination program for infants. The new jab will be offered free of charge and nationwide to all children under six months. The rollout comes after successful trials in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, which showed the vaccine slashed mortality for infants who do get infected with malaria. The mosquito-borne disease kills more than 600,000 people a year — 95 percent of those in Africa, where children under five make up more than 80 percent of deaths. This comes after Cape Verde became the latest African nation to be certified as malaria-free. The head of the WHO said the news was a beacon of hope for the elimination of the disease. That’s not yet so in Cameroon: Almost a third of all medical consultations are malaria-linked and WHO figures say 11,000 people die of the disease there every year. But even though the vaccine is a significant step in the fight against malaria, not everyone is willing to have their child vaccinated.
Cameroon faces anti-vax resistance in malaria vaccine drive | DW News
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