After Cameroon, Burkina Faso becomes second country in Africa to include malaria vaccine in immunisation program

Burkina Faso has become the second nation in Africa to integrate the malaria vaccine into its routine immunisation schedule. The country, after Cameroon, began to integrate the malaria vaccine into its routine immunisation schedule on 5 February by officially introducing the RTS,S malaria vaccine into its expanded vaccination program across 27 health districts. According to the Gavi vaccine alliance, the initial phase of the vaccine roll-out in Burkina Faso aims to reach nearly 250,000 children aged 5–23 months, across 27 health districts out of the total 70. Burkina Faso is said to be one of the worst-hit malaria places in the world with almost 12.5 million cases of the mosquito-borne disease recorded across the country in 2021, equating it to an incidence rate of 569 cases per 1,000 people. Officially, 4,355 people were reported to have died of the vector-borne infection, although the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the actual death toll that year stands as high as 18,976. The WHO endorsed the vaccine two years ago, acknowledging that even though it is imperfect, its use will help dramatically reduce severe infections and hospitalisations. To date, there is no malaria vaccine to stop transmission. The malaria parasite mostly spreads to people via infected mosquitoes and can cause symptoms including fever, headaches and chills. On 22 January, Cameroon become the world’s first country to have started a malaria vaccine program for children. With inputs from agencies