A child is vaccinated at a healthcare center in Douala, Cameroon, Jan. 22, 2024.
Cameroon started vaccinating children against malaria for the first time on Monday in an effort to contain the raging pandemic. (Photo by Paul Ikome/Xinhua)
YAOUNDE, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Cameroon started vaccinating children against malaria for the first time on Monday in an effort to contain the raging pandemic.
The Public Health Ministry of the country announced that the vaccine will be offered in both public and private health facilities across 42 health districts.
In the commercial hub of Douala, vaccination started at 8:00 a.m. (0700 GMT). At Angels Clinic in Douala, Aristide Ndenan was among the first parents to bring his six-month-old daughter for vaccination. "I am relieved that my daughter has been vaccinated. I hope that this vaccination will help my child a lot," Ndenan told Xinhua.
"The vaccine is intended as a complementary tool to other tried-and-tested effective malaria prevention and control measures," public health official Leonard Ewane said. Malaria, a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite, is responsible for 70 percent of deaths among children in Cameroon, according to the country's health ministry.
Cameroon took delivery in November last year of more than 300,000 doses of RTS,S -- the first malaria vaccine recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Since 2019, more than two million children have been jabbed in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi in a pilot phase, resulting in substantial reductions in severe malaria illness and hospitalizations.
According to the WHO, globally in 2022, there were an estimated 249 million malaria cases and 608,000 malaria deaths in 85 countries. And Africa was home to 94 percent of malaria cases and 95 percent of malaria deaths. Children under five accounted for about 80 percent of all malaria deaths in the region. ■
A child is vaccinated at a healthcare center in Douala, Cameroon, Jan. 22, 2024.
Cameroon started vaccinating children against malaria for the first time on Monday in an effort to contain the raging pandemic. (Photo by Paul Ikome/Xinhua)
