Wetin to know about di R21 malaria vaccine wey NAFDAC approve for di meantime

Di National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Nafdac, don give provisional - meantime approval for Nigeria to begin use di R21 malaria vaccine.

Wit di approval of di vaccine wey di Serum Institute of India manufacture, Nigeria go become di second kontri to approve di product afta Ghana.

Di Director General of di Agency, Prof Christianah Adeleye also explain say di review committee recognise say di vaccine dey 75% effective to protect against malaria.

She add say di potential benefit of di vaccine pass di potential risks dem sabi.

Di expectation na say Nigeria go get at least 100,000 doses of di vaccine in donations soon before di market authorisation go start dey make oda arrangements wit di National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).

She say dem go use di vaccine to prevent clinical malaria inside children from five to 36 months of age.

Di storage temperature of di vaccine na 2-8 °C.

Nafdac don pledge commitment to make sure say na only products wey dey safe, high quality and wey dey work well, n aim dem go make available to Nigerians.

Malaria na one of di most important public health concerns for di world.

Nigeria lead for deaths caused by malaria worldwide - WHO tok

For 2021, World Health Organisation (WHO) malaria report show say Nigeria lead oda kontris of di world for malaria deaths.

According to di report wey WHO title World malaria report 2022, Nigeria account for 31.3% of malaria death worldwide while Democratic Republic of di Congo record 12.6%.

Behind di Democratic Republic of di Congo na United Republic of Tanzania wey record 4.1%, while Niger come fourth wit 3.9%.

Dis one mean say dis four kontris account for 51.9% of all malaria deaths worldwide.

According to di report, WHO record estimate 247 million cases of malaria worldwide for 2021 and na an estimated 619,000 pipo die as a result of dis illness.

WHO also tok for dia report say Africa get 95% of malaria cases for 2021 and record 96% deaths for di same year.

Dem say pikin under di age of five account for about 80% of all malaria deaths for Africa.

Di malaria cases worldwide for 2021 high pass di one of 2020 wey be 245 million but di deaths wey di illness cause for 2021 dey lower dan di one of 2020 wey be 625,000.

'Death of my pikin change how I dey take eye see malaria’

“Halima na my first child and I born her on 20th September 2019 and she die on 4th March 2020. No single day wey I no dey think of her.”

Dis na di tori of one mama, Zahrau Mustapha wey dey stay Kano for northwest Nigeria.

For interview wit BBC Pidgin, Zahrau reveal how malaria kill her five-months-old pikin Halima two years ago.

"My dream na for Halima to grow up, go school and become medical doctor but malaria snatch her away from me.

“Di most painful part and wetin I dey always remember be say she die for my hands on our way to di hospital.”

“She don already learn to siddon and me and her dey play wella anytime I dey house.”

She add say di death of Halima don make dem dey take extra care in terms of protecting themselves from Malaria.

“After her death, we buy extra mosquito nets and we dey quick enta and for our baby na double net for her because inside our net she get her own inside and also insecticide dey always dey now.”

Why malaria dey worry

Malaria na acute febrile illness wey Plasmodium parasites dey cause. Humans dey get malaria through di bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.

Na five parasite species dey cause malaria for humans and two of dis species pose di greatest threat. Dem be P. falciparum and P. vivax.

P. falciparum na di deadliest malaria parasite and na im plenti pass for Africa. P. vivax na di dominant malaria parasite for most kontris outside sub-Saharan Africa.

Di first symptoms of malaria na fever, headache and chills. And dis symptoms dey usually appear 10-15 days afta di infective mosquito bite pesin. Dis symptoms fit no serious and e fit dey difficult to recognise as malaria.

If pesin no treat malaria wey P. falciparum cause, e fit progress to severe illness and death within a period of 24 hours.

Wetin to sabi about di new R21 malaria vaccine

Di R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine, wey di University of Oxford manufacture and di Serum Institute of India (SII) develop, na only di second vaccine di world don ever see for a while for disease wey don cause untold suffering for a long time.

Dis new vaccine dey come hot on di heels of di RTS,S vaccine wey di World Health Organization approve for October 2021. Four doses of RTS,S vaccine dey reduce clinical malaria cases by 39% and severe malaria by 30%.

Di R21 vaccine dey target di first stage of di parasite life cycle

Wen di anopheles mosquito wey dey carry di malaria parasite bite pesin, e go send di parasite through di bloodstream, wia e dey change through stages of im life cycle. Di complexity of di malaria parasite life cycle mean say e don affect vaccine development for years.

Di vaccine also contain Novavax Matrix-M, one ingredient wey dey boost di immune system response to make am more powerful and long-lasting.

Vaccines dey work by putting di antigen, wey be di piece of di virus or bacteria wey our system recognise and dey respond to, in front of our immune cells.

Ghana be first kontri to approve di R21 gemalaria vaccine

Ghana na di first kontri to approve di new malaria vaccine wey dem describe as “world-changer" by di scientists wey develop am.

Food and Drugs Authority for Ghana also approve di vaccine for use in children between age five months to three years old.

Oda African kontris also dey study di data, di World Health Organization also dey study am.

Prof Adrian Hill, director of Jenner Institute for University of Oxford, wia dem invent di vaccine talk say African kontris dey talk say “we go decide", afta dem leave dem behind for di rollout of Covid-19 vaccines during di pandemic.

"We expect R21 to make a major impact on malaria mortality for children in di coming years, and in di longer term e go contribute to overall final goal of malaria eradication and elimination." for di continent.