MEDIA ADVISORY: VPC on SAGE/MPAC findings on RTS,S malaria vaccine, 6 October, 2021, 17:30 CEST

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Tuesday, 5 October 2021

MEDIA ADVISORY

Virtual Press Conference on global advisory bodies' review of RTS,S/AS01 vaccine evidence to inform potential first-ever WHO recommendation on broad deployment of a malaria vaccine for children in sub-Saharan Africa

When: Wednesday 6 October, 2021, 17:30 CEST (Geneva time)

Subject: Virtual Press Conference on SAGE/MPAG global advisory bodies' review of RTS,S/AS01 vaccine evidence to inform a potential WHO recommendation on broad deployment of a malaria vaccine for children in sub-Saharan Africa

Context: Should there be a WHO recommendation for wider use of the RTS,S malaria vaccine, this would be historic for global health and child health in Africa

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Available to respond to any technical questions during the Q&A session:

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More information

Africa continues to bear the heaviest malaria burden: more than 260 000 African children died of malaria in 2019. The addition of the malaria vaccine, RTS,S to currently recommended malaria control interventions could save tens of thousands of lives annually and drive down child mortality in Africa. The RTS,S vaccine is currently being deployed through a WHO-coordinated pilot programme in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi. Across the 3 pilot countries, more than 800,000 children have received at least one vaccine dose and 2.3 million doses have been administered since 2019.

Global advisory bodies for immunization and malaria (SAGE and MPAG) will convene on 6 October 2021 to review the full package of RTS,S evidence and consider a potential WHO recommendation for wider use of the malaria vaccine in sub-Saharan Africa. Data generated by the pilot programme and other RTS,S clinical evidence will inform the joint SAGE and MPAG recommendation to the WHO Director-General (DG). The RTS,S SAGE MPAG Working Group has provided a report with their recommendation on wider use of the vaccine. The report is available online in the SAGE Yellow Book. Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) (who.int)

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