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Kenya to conduct trial on malaria vaccine to gauge its efficacy

Xinhua, April 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

Kenya will soon conduct a trial on the malaria vaccine, RTS, S to test its efficacy and safety as the government hastens implementation of a broad strategy to eliminate the killer tropical disease, officials said on Wednesday.

Cabinet Secretary for health, Cleopa Mailu said the malaria vaccine whose development is being supported by philanthropies will be a critical arsenal in the war against a disease that is to blame for high deaths among pregnant mothers and children in Kenya.

"The pilot implementation that will be undertaken in consultation with the other partners will further inform policy formulation in malaria management in the country," Mailu told reporters in Nairobi.

He revealed the malaria vaccine has received a positive scientific assessment from the World Health Organization and the European Medicine Agency (EMA).

The malaria vaccine trials will also be conducted in five African countries with a high burden of the tropical disease transmitted by mosquitoes.

The WHO recommends that the RTS,S vaccine be administered in 4 doses - the first 3 doses at monthly intervals and a fourth dose 18 months later.

Countries are required to register the vaccine through their regulatory agencies before it is administered to Malaria patients.

According to WHO guidelines, malaria endemic countries should rope in a critical mass of the population during the clinical trials on the RTS, S vaccine.

At present, no regulatory authority in Sub-Saharan Africa region has licensed RTS,S vaccine for use in malaria treatment.

Mailu said Kenyan regulatory agencies have put solid measures in place to facilitate clinical trials on RTS, S vaccine.

"We are putting in place mechanisms for evaluating and adopting novel interventions like vaccines to contain the malaria pandemic," said Mailu.

He added the ministry of health and partners will evaluate the efficacy of existing malaria interventions like indoor spraying and use of treated nets.

"We shall continue to ensure that medicines, mosquito nets, test kits, insecticides and reagents are available in sufficient quantities and the right quality," he said.

The WHO Kenya Representative Custodia Mandlhate called on Kenya to make program adjustments in line with the Global Technical Strategy (GTS) and Action and Investment to defeat Malaria (AIM).

"Kenya has to enhance epimiological and entomological surveillance across all epidemiological zones especially in lower transmission zones," she noted. Endit