New licensed vaccines should be in place by 2030 that will not only reduce malaria cases by 75% but are also capable of eliminating the disease, the World Health Organisation has announced.
The updated 2013 Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap, launched yesterday was unveiled at the annual conference of the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene in Washington, DC.
It is in addition to the original 2006 Roadmap’s goal of having a licensed vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum malaria, the most deadly form of the disease, for children under 5 years in sub-Saharan Africa by 2015.
Dr Robert Newman, director of WHO’s global malaria programme, said: “Safe, effective, affordable vaccines could play a critical role in defeating malaria.
“Despite all the recent progress countries have made, and despite important innovations in diagnostics, drugs and vector control, the global burden of malaria remains unacceptably high.”
According to WHO, malaria causes an estimated 660,000 deaths each year from 219 million cases of illness. Its recommended malaria control measures have been associated with a 26% drop in the global malaria death rate over the last decade.
Final results from Phase III trials of the most advanced vaccine candidate, RTS,S/AS01, will be available by 2015. Depending on the final trial results, a WHO recommendation for use could occur in late 2015.
The new roadmap, which was also announced in a letter published in The Lancet, aims to identify where additional funding and activities will be particularly important in developing second generation malaria vaccines that protect against the disease and have the potential to eliminate it.
“The new vaccines should show at least 75% efficacy against clinical malaria, be suitable for use in all malaria-endemic areas, and be licensed by 2030,” says Dr Jean-Marie Okwo Bele, director of WHO’s Department of Immunisation, Vaccines and Biologicals.
“The roadmap also sets a target for malaria vaccines that reduce transmission of the parasite.”
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