The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved and recommended a new vaccine to prevent malaria in children. R21/Matrix-M immunizes children against this pathology, and is deemed “safe and effective”.

The WHO director presented the new vaccine as a major step forward in the fight against malaria, a disease which is endemic in several countries. In Africa, the disease is one of the main causes of infant mortality.

Malaria, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, hits children particularly hard in the African region, where almost half a million die from the disease every year. The various means of combating the disease implemented to date have not prevented 247 million cases worldwide by 2021, 95% of them in Africa. This illustrates the salutary nature of this new vaccine.

According to Prof. Halidou Tinto, Director of the Nanoro Clinical Research Unit (Burkina-Faso) and the main player in R21’s research, in partnership with three other institutions, this vaccine will make a considerable contribution to the elimination of malaria.

The R21 vaccine is the second malaria vaccine recommended by the WHO, following the RTS, S/AS01 vaccine, which the Organization recommended in 2021. Both vaccines were found to be safe and, if administered on a large scale, should have a definite impact on public health.

Key features
malaria vaccine R21

High efficacy when administered just prior to high fever
High public health impact in a wide range of transmission contexts
Cost-effective
Similarity of R21 and RTS vaccines
Good safety record in clinical trials

At least 28 African countries are planning to introduce a WHO-recommended malaria vaccine as part of their national immunization programs.

R21 malaria vaccine to be available to countries by mid-2024