Malaria vaccine reduces child deaths, but coverage remains incomplete

Malaria vaccines are now integrated into the routine immunization programmes of 25 African countries, with support from the Gavi alliance. Since the programme began, more than 39 million doses have been delivered.

An evaluation published in the journal The Lancet confirmed that approximately one in eight child deaths was avoided thanks to the RTS,S vaccine in three pilot countries: Ghana, Kenya and Malawi. This figure refers specifically to these three countries, where the vaccine was first introduced and where health surveillance made it possible to measure its impact on child mortality; based on what has been reported, the evaluation does not cover the full set of 25 countries that currently distribute malaria vaccines.

The picture nonetheless remains incomplete in the countries at greatest risk. Tanzania, which in 2024 recorded 4.3% of global malaria deaths, has not yet introduced the vaccine into its immunization programme. This figure takes on significance in light of another element reported: more than 90% of malaria cases worldwide occur in Africa, the continent where vaccine distribution is also concentrated.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the introduction of the vaccines as something capable of “changing the course of public health history” (transl. from English), a judgment that accompanies the publication of the data on a continental scale.

The picture that emerges thus combines measurable progress — one in eight child deaths avoided in the three countries where the vaccine was first introduced, on a basis of more than 39 million doses distributed across 25 countries — with a clear limitation: the absence of the programme in precisely the country that accounted for 4.3% of global malaria deaths in 2024.

Sources: World Health Organization; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance