Benin Republic has officially received its initial supply of malaria vaccine, with the country set to commence the vaccination campaign soon.
Health Minister Benjamin Hounkpatin highlighted the severe impact of malaria, especially as the leading cause of death in children under five years old in Benin. The government received 215,900 doses of the RTS,S vaccine at Cotonou airport.
Hounkpatin mentioned that the first round of vaccinations is scheduled to begin “within a few months.” In Benin, a significant portion of medical consultations and hospital admissions, 40 percent and 25 percent respectively, are attributed to malaria.
The vaccine aims to immunize approximately 200,000 children below the age of two, with each infant receiving four doses at six months, seven months, nine months, and 18 months. Benin becomes the third African nation, following Cameroon and Sierra Leone, to receive doses of the vaccine, following a successful pilot phase in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi coordinated by the World Health Organization and supported by the GAVI Vaccine Alliance.
More than two million children have already been vaccinated in these pilot countries, resulting in a substantial reduction in mortality rates and severe forms of malaria, along with a decline in hospitalizations.
Malaria remains a significant global health concern, causing millions of cases and deaths each year. The disease, transmitted by specific mosquitoes, particularly affects Africa, with almost every minute witnessing the death of a child under the age of five due to malaria.
The WHO reports that in 2021, there were 247 million recorded cases worldwide, leading to 619,000 deaths, with Africa accounting for a staggering 95 percent of cases and 96 percent of deaths.