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Life-saving malaria vaccine now available in Burkina Faso
Chigozie Ohaka
RTS,S was successfully tested in Kenya (pictured), Ghana and MalawiImage caption: RTS,S was successfully tested in Kenya (pictured), Ghana and Malawi
Burkina Faso has now introduced the World Health Organization’s first recommended malaria vaccine - RTS,S - into its regular vaccination routine.
This means that infants who visit health facilities for their routine vaccination in the West African country can now receive the malaria vaccine as an added way of staying protected from the disease.
The first phase of this vaccine rollout is targeting almost 250,000 infants aged five months to one year in 27 health districts that are worst-affected by malaria.
Every year 600,000 people die of malaria in Africa, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Children under five make up at least 80% of those deaths.
Last month, Cameroon became the first country in the world to roll out this vaccine into its routine immunization programme.
More than 15 other countries in Africa are gearing up to do the same this year, according to the global vaccine alliance, Gavi.