The World Health Organisation is awaiting the expert review before it can recommend the use of a new potential malaria vaccine.
The vaccine candidate, R21, was developed by the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute.
About 600 Kenyan children are taking part in phase three trials being conducted in Kilifi by Kemri-Wellcome Trust.
An ongoing larger trial, which was expected to end last month, is assessing efficacy and safety in 4,800 children across five sites in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali, and Tanzania.
“WHO is aware of the new innovation, the new R21 malaria vaccine as a potential vaccine of public health importance, and awaits the expert review processes before a WHO recommendation can be made,” WHO Country Representative in Kenya Dr Abdourahmane Diallo said.
"Recent data from the large phase III trial also show high levels of efficacy and a reassuring safety profile."
Currently, the only WHO-approved malaria vaccine is the RTSS, which has about 30 per cent efficacy.
According to WHO, Kenya continues to make great strides in the fight against malaria such as the development of malaria Rapid diagnostic test (mRDT) kit by the Kenya Medical Research Institute.
Kenya has also been able to establish the ‘End Malaria Council and Fund’ (2021) to mobilise resources for malaria elimination in Kenya, as well as conduct a mass distribution of 16 million Mosquito nets, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Nested within these achievements, are new challenges that are threatening to blunt our successes,” Diallo said.
For instance, the emergence of invasive malaria mosquitos such as the Anopheles stephensii vector, which was discovered in Marsabit, Moyale and Turkana region has been identified as a concern.
The mosquito transmits malaria with very high competence and thrives in urban habitats.
Each minute a child dies from malaria in the country and the disease remains a major public health problem in Kenya.
Due to altitude, rainfall patterns and temperature, it is estimated that about 70 per cent of the Kenyan population is at risk for malaria.
Besides being the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the country, the disease is listed among the top 10 causes of outpatient visits countrywide.
The disease burden, however, remains the highest in counties In the Lake region who account for 70 per cent of the cases nationally.
