Context: In a landmark announcement, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the use of the first-ever malaria vaccine for children.
About Malaria

• It is a life threatening mosquito borne blood disease caused by plasmodium parasites. 
• It is predominantly found in the tropical and subtropical areas of Africa, South America as well as Asia.
• The parasites spread through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.
• After entering the human body, parasites initially multiply within the liver cells and then attack the Red Blood Cells (RBCs) resulting in their rupture.
• There are 5 parasite species that cause malaria in humans, and 2 of these species – Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax – pose the greatest threat.

Symptoms of malaria include fever and flu-like illness, including shaking chills, headache, muscle aches, and tiredness.

• It is preventable as well as curable.

Background

• Malaria claims the lives of more than 400,000 people every year. Children account for 67% of all malarial deaths worldwide, according to the WHO.
• Malaria remains a primary cause of childhood illness and death in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the WHO.
• According WHO directors, " RTS,S malaria vaccine – more than 30 years in the making – changes the course of public health history. This vaccine is a gift to the world".
• Many vaccines exist against viruses and bacteria but this was the first time that the WHO recommended broad use of a vaccine against a human parasite.

About Mosquirix 

• RTS,S/AS01 malaria or Mosquirix - a vaccine developed by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
• The vaccine acts against P. falciparum, the most deadly malaria parasite globally, and the most prevalent in Africa. 
• Among children who received 4 doses in largescale clinical trials, the vaccine was able to prevent approximately 4 in 10 cases of malaria over a 4-year period.
• This is the first malaria vaccine that has completed the clinical development process, and received a positive scientific opinion from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
• It is also the first malaria vaccine to be introduced by three national ministries of health through their childhood immunization programmes — more than 800,000 children in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi have been vaccinated, and are benefiting from the added protection provided by the vaccine as part of a pilot programme.

Global burden of malaria

• Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. It is preventable and curable.
• Still, in 2019, there were an estimated 229 million cases of malaria worldwide, and the estimated number of malaria deaths that year stood at 409,000.
• Children aged under 5 years are the most vulnerable group affected by malaria; in 2019, they accounted for 67% (274,000) of all malaria deaths worldwide.

India's Scenario

• Malaria Burden: The World Malaria Report (WMR) 2020 released by WHO, which gives the estimated cases for malaria across the world, indicates that India has made considerable progress in reducing its malaria burden.
• India is the only high endemic country which has reported a decline of 17.6% in 2019 as compared to 2018.
• In 2019, India had an estimated 5.6 million cases of malaria compared to about 20 million cases in 2020, according to WHO.

Countries that have eliminated malaria

• Globally, the elimination net is widening, with more countries moving towards the goal of zero malaria. 
• In 2019, 27 countries reported fewer than 100 indigenous cases of the disease, up from 6 countries in 2000.
• Countries that have achieved at least 3 consecutive years of zero indigenous cases of malaria are eligible to apply for the WHO certification of malaria elimination. 
• Over the last two decades, 11 countries have been certified by the WHO Director-General as malaria-free: United Arab Emirates (2007), Morocco (2010), Turkmenistan (2010), Armenia (2011), Sri Lanka (2016), Kyrgyzstan (2016), Paraguay (2018), Uzbekistan (2018), Algeria (2019), Argentina (2019), and El Salvador (2021).

Global Demand

• A global market study led by the WHO this year projected demand for a malaria vaccine would be 50 to 110 million doses per year by 2030 if it is deployed in areas with moderate to high transmission of the disease.

Initiatives Taken by India

• In 2017, India launched its 5-year National Strategic Plan for Malaria Elimination that shifted focus from Malaria control to elimination and provided a roadmap to end malaria in 571 districts out of India’s 678 districts by 2022.
• Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recently established ‘Malaria Elimination Research Alliance-India (MERA-India) which is a conglomeration of partners working on malaria control.