Malaria vaccine can prevent 300,000 children’s deaths – UNICEF

Following the successful trial of a new malaria vaccine currently developed and tested in the United States, the United Nations Children Education Fund, (UNICEF), has described it as a welcome development. According to a statement by the organisation made available to LEADERSHIP, about 300,000 annual malaria deaths, in the country, a lot of them children under five years of age, could be prevented when the vaccine hits the market. Also, the National Coordinator, National Malaria Control Programme, Dr Nnenna Ezeigwe , urged everyone to get onto the fight against malaria, adding that it is costing the country a whopping N480 billion in prevention and treatment costs of malaria. She said, “ malaria is a leading cause of under-five mortality in Africa (18 per cent) and accounts for 40 per cent of public health expenditure. We can use that money for something else to build roads and bridges” The malaria vaccine has become the first...