Malaria vaccination gains momentum as WHO targets 25 countries by 2025

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced that up to 25 countries are expected to include malaria vaccines in their childhood immunisation programmes by the end of 2025.

WHO’s Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, shared this update on Monday during an online media conference focused on global health issues.

Mr Ghebreyesus emphasised that these vaccines could save tens of thousands of young lives annually.

He, however, raised concerns over the risks posed by recent cuts to US funding for global health initiatives.

“Many of the gains in malaria that have been made over the past 20 years are now at risk due to these funding cuts,” he said.

While he refrained from commenting on the US withdrawal from WHO, Mr Ghebreyesus clarified that the cuts he referred to were those linked to direct US funding.

According to him, this includes funding through agencies such as USAID and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

He warned that the impact of these cuts is already being felt, with severe disruptions in the supply of malaria diagnostics, medicines, and insecticide-treated nets due to stockouts and delayed deliveries.

“The US has been the largest bilateral donor to the fight against malaria for the past two decades, helping to prevent an estimated 2.2 billion cases and 12.7 million deaths.”

If disruptions continue, he predicted an additional 15 million cases of malaria and 107,000 deaths this year alone, potentially reversing 15 years of progress.

A similar situation is unfolding with HIV, where the suspension of most funding to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has halted services for HIV treatment, testing, and prevention in more than 50 countries.
Mr Ghebreyesus noted that eight countries are facing severe disruptions to antiretroviral therapy, with some likely to run out of medicine in the coming months.

He said this could lead to more than 10 million additional cases of HIV and three million HIV-related deaths.

The WHO Director-General also highlighted the impact on tuberculosis (TB) programmes, with 27 countries in Africa and Asia facing significant disruptions.

He said these include shortages of healthcare workers, diagnostic tools, and collapsing data systems.

He noted that nine countries have already reported problems with the procurement and supply chains for TB drugs, threatening the lives of affected individuals.

“Over the past two decades, US support for TB services has saved nearly 80 million lives, but this progress is now at risk,” he said.

“Additionally, the WHO’s Global Measles and Rubella Network, funded solely by the US, faces an imminent shutdown, just as measles outbreaks are increasing globally. In 2024, 57 large or disruptive measles outbreaks were reported, continuing a trend from the previous three years.”

Mr Ghebreyesus warned that these cuts are also affecting efforts to eradicate polio, monitor emerging diseases like avian influenza, and respond to disease outbreaks and humanitarian crises.

He said nearly 24 million people living in such crises are at risk of losing access to essential health services.

Mr Ghebreyesus stressed that other donors must step up, and countries that have relied on US funding must also increase their domestic health spending to maintain progress in disease control and health services.
(NAN)