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Former Member

WHO endorses ‘historic’ malaria vaccine for at-risk children

6 October 2021 -- Health  - Source - United Nations -- https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/10/1102362

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WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said that "for centuries, malaria has stalked sub-Saharan Africa, causing immense personal suffering.”

“We have long hoped for an effective malaria vaccine and now for the first time ever, we have such a vaccine recommended for widespread use”, she said.

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https://global.unitednations.entermediadb.net/assets/mediadb/services/module/asset/downloads/preset/Libraries/Production+Library/06-10-2021_UNICEF-452584_Cote-d-Ivoire.jpg/image1170x530cropped.jpg© UNICEF/Frank Dejongh -- Bed nets remain an important tool to protect against malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is recommending widespread use of the world’s first malaria vaccine, in what the UN health agency’s chief described on Wednesday as “an historic day” for the decades-long battle against the deadly disease.

The vaccine is geared towards children, in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions with moderate to high transmission.

The recommendation to begin using the RTS,S vaccine, is based an ongoing pilot programme set up by WHO and partners in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, that has reached more than 800,000 children since 2019.

“The long-awaited malaria vaccine for children is a breakthrough for science, child health and malaria control”, said the WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Using this vaccine on top of existing tools to prevent malaria could save tens of thousands of young lives each year.”

Stagnation in progress

Tedros said the world had made “incredible progress” in the fight against malaria in the past two decades.

The malaria parasite is mostly transmitted by infective mosquitoes and carried in the blood, after being bitten. It is not contagious person-to-person, and symptoms include a fever of flu-like illness, nausea and vomiting, and if left untreated, it can be fatal, killing more than 400,000 each year worldwide.

Since 2000, deaths have fallen by more than half, and the disease has been eliminated in many parts of the world.

For the WHO chief, though, progress has stalled at an unacceptably high level, with more than 200 million cases still occurring each year. Two-thirds of those who die from the disease, are children under five in Africa.

Childhoods decimated

Malaria remains a primary cause of childhood illness and death in sub-Saharan Africa. More than 260,000 African children under the age of five die from malaria annually.

WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said that "for centuries, malaria has stalked sub-Saharan Africa, causing immense personal suffering.”

“We have long hoped for an effective malaria vaccine and now for the first time ever, we have such a vaccine recommended for widespread use”, she said.

For Ms. Moeti, today’s recommendation “offers a glimmer of hope for the continent which shoulders the heaviest burden of the disease and we expect many more African children to be protected from malaria and grow into healthy adults.”

Recommendations

Based on the advice of two WHO global advisory bodies, one for immunization and the other for malaria, the UN Agency has made a series of specific recommendations.

The immunization should be administered in regions with moderate to high transmission, in a schedule of four doses, in children from five months of age and up.

According to Tedros, the pilot study has shown that the vaccine can be easily delivered through child health clinics by Ministries of Health, reaching children with high coverage. There is strong community demand, and it has “broad reach to children, including the most vulnerable who may not use a bednet” to keep out mosquitoes, and it is highly cost-effective.

Deaths reduced by a third

To date, more than 2.3 million doses of the vaccine have been administered, showing a favorable safety profile.

The vaccine showed a significant reduction (30%) in deadly severe malaria, even when introduced in areas where insecticide-treated nets are widely used and there is good access to diagnosis and treatment.

The study showed that the distribution of the vaccine had no negative impact on uptake of bednets, other childhood vaccinations, or health-seeking behavior for other febrile illness.

The next steps will include funding decisions from the global health community for broader rollout, and country decision-making on whether to adopt the vaccine as part of national malaria control strategies.

“This is a powerful new tool, but like COVID-19 vaccines, it’s not the only tool”, stressed Tedros. Vaccination against malaria does not replace or reduce the need for other measures, including bednets, or seeking care for fever.”

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After so many years, finally a breakthrough in a vaccine for this....now think about the ones for Covid and the speed it was developed and in the arms of countless millions, how the hell is that possible?

cain
@Mitwah posted:

They should now be reporting how many are dying daily from Cancer.

That's what I've been saying all along. Let's see how dying from other illnesses are down since Covid came on the scene.

I know one person in Florida who picked up bodies for a funeral home, he told me every death was pegged as a Covid death. I don't believe everything I hear nor read but how do I not believe this when I see all the confusion by WHO, CDC and others who seem to make up shit on the fly.

cain

This is the time when deranged medical personnel, such as nurses can over dose the patients, murder will be covered as Covid.

I called my family doctor for an appointment and the earliest I can get is Two weeks from today, the nurse said if you are very sick go to the hospital. Maybe I will take an aspirin.

K
Last edited by kp
@cain posted:

After so many years, finally a breakthrough in a vaccine for this....now think about the ones for Covid and the speed it was developed and in the arms of countless millions, how the hell is that possible?

Stop spreading anti-vaxxer nonsense. The COVID vaccine has been in development for almost 20 years now. Corona viruses have been known to scientists for decades.

Fact check: The vaccine for COVID-19 has been nearly 20 years in the making

https://www.usatoday.com/story...s-making/3873247001/

Mars
@Mars posted:

Stop spreading anti-vaxxer nonsense. The COVID vaccine has been in development for almost 20 years now. Corona viruses have been known to scientists for decades.

Fact check: The vaccine for COVID-19 has been nearly 20 years in the making

https://www.usatoday.com/story...s-making/3873247001/

First of all, anti vax is one of those stupid made up words as we see every day, it is sheer nonsense. So explain why is it they don't know dick all about how the vaccine is supposed to work? Is it one shot, two shots, three shots? When does the guessing game end?

We have received shots in the past for tetanus, measles, chicken pox, polio, etc and for those not taking these shots, we were never bribed with cash prizes, tickets to games, cannabis joints etc. Neither did we worry about blood clots, cardiac problems, nor were we given the ultimatum to get a shot or be let go from our job.

We were never banned from entertainment venues, travel etc.

We have never been judged by family and friends for our choice.

We have never had the media pushing a vaccine as seen today and since when can a twelve year old be given the goddam right to consent over their parents choice? Perhaps they should also be given the right to vote, drive, have sex.

As someone once mentioned, this vaccine does all that except one thing it is supposed to do which is, Fight off this so called pandemic, so why on earth should I take it?

Oh another thing as I mentioned before on another thread. This is also the first time something was developed that does not work as it should and the blame is being placed on those not taking it. Go figure.

If you and others take the vaccine, good for you that is your choice and you should feel good with that I do not hold that against anyone, too bad it doesn't go the other way also. Some of my family and friends have words with me, I have been called names but I really don't give a dam..again, it is my choice and they can all go to fkn hell.

cain
Last edited by cain
@cain posted:

First of all, anti vax is one of those stupid made up words as we see every day, it is sheer nonsense. So explain why is it they don't know dick all about how the vaccine is supposed to work? Is it one shot, two shots, three shots? When does the guessing game end?

We have received shots in the past for tetanus, measles, chicken pox, polio, etc and for those not taking these shots, we were never bribed with cash prizes, tickets to games, cannabis joints etc. Neither did we worry about blood clots, cardiac problems, nor were we given the ultimatum to get a shot or be let go from our job.

We were never banned from entertainment venues, travel etc.

We have never been judged by family and friends for our choice.

We have never had the media pushing a vaccine as seen today and since when can a twelve year old be given the goddam right to consent over their parents choice? Perhaps they should also be given the right to vote, drive, have sex.

As someone once mentioned, this vaccine does all that except one thing it is supposed to do which is, Fight off this so called pandemic, so why on earth should I take it?

Oh another thing as I mentioned before on another thread. This is also the first time something was developed that does not work as it should and the blame is being placed on those not taking it. Go figure.

If you and others take the vaccine, good for you that is your choice and you should feel good with that I do not hold that against anyone, too bad it doesn't go the other way also. Some of my family and friends have words with me, I have been called names but I really don't give a dam..again, it is my choice and they can all go to fkn hell.

"Anti-vaxxer" like every other word is made up. That's how language works in case you haven't noticed. We make up words and we use them accordingly. The scientists know how the vaccines work and they are working. It's only clowns in the anti-vaxxer community who go around spreading nonsense about the effectiveness of the vaccine. Getting booster shots for a vaccine is not a new phenomenon. Whenever we stop producing anti bodies to fight off the virus, a booster shot is administered. Perhaps, you've never heard of a booster shot for the tetanus vaccine or flu shots being administered every year. Many people have had adverse side effects from other vaccines and died before.

There is already a vaccine "ultimatum" right there in Canada and the USA long before COVID came along. Before you can attend school in the USA and some places in Canada, you have to be vaccinated with some exemptions for religious or other reasons. It's how we prevent severe diseases like Polio from erupting and devastating our communities. Maybe the anti-vaxxer folks would like to take us back to the dark days when human life expectancy was 30 years. It's advances in medicine like the introduction of vaccines that have us enjoying life much longer in today's world. With all the foolish noise that anti-vaxxers run around making, they benefit significantly from vaccines since they no longer have to worry about diseases like polio killing them or leaving them severely disabled.

The vaccine is doing its job in fighting off the pandemic. I've seen numbers from Guyana recently showing that 97% of the people currently dying from COVID are unvaccinated. It's even greater than 97% in the USA, so yes the vaccine is preventing people from becoming severely ill or dying. Again, the anti-vaxxer community are spreading all kinds of wicked lies but the numbers tell the real story. No one is being forced to take a vaccine. At the end of the day, you have a choice not to take it. What is irresponsible is when people go around spreading lies about the vaccine which could influence someone else not to take it and end up dead. If you don't want to take it, don't take it but spare us the wicked lies. 

Mars
@cain posted:

.........If you and others take the vaccine, good for you that is your choice and you should feel good with that I do not hold that against anyone, too bad it doesn't go the other way also........

cain

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