New malaria vaccine offers a ray of hope to Nigeria. There's just one thing ...
The country's toll makes up nearly a third of the world's 619,000 malaria deaths each year. Now Nigeria has approved a new vaccine. Will it get into the arms of those who need it most?
On April 17, 2023, Nigeria approved a promising new malaria vaccine. It's called R21, and in early trials, up to 80% of kids who were vaccinated did not develop malaria.
Nigeria is a country in need of protection from malaria. Its death toll from the disease makes up nearly a third of the world's 619,000 malaria deaths a year.
But in my view, there's a big stumbling block: Many of the people who need the vaccine the most live in poor and rural areas where malaria is troublesome because living conditions that favor mosquito breeding – for example, low quality housing with broken window nets that mosquitoes can easily infiltrate, standing pools of water in gutters, and the proximity to swamps. But they'll likely not be able to
