- A large-scale trial of the world’s most advanced experimental malaria vaccine, Mosquirix, to give partial protection to children has begun in Malawi, Africa. In the upcoming week, the vaccine would be rolled out in Kenya and Ghana.
- Mosquirix has been developed by British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline in partnership with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative. It was approved for the pilot programme in 2015.
- The field trial aims to immunise 1, 20,000 children aged 2 years and under to assess the effectiveness of the pilot vaccine and whether the delivery process is feasible.
- Malaria is disease caused by Plasmodium parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. According to WHO’s World Malaria Report 2018, more than 200 million people were affected by malaria in 2017. Africa has the highest malaria burden.
