Cameroon has started compulsory vaccination of children, “a revolution”

Cameroon is the first country in the world to vaccinate “routinely” against malaria. In 2023, this central African country recorded six million cases and 4,000 deaths.

Two vaccines have now been approved by the World Health Organization: this is a historic step forward in the fight against this disease, which has been documented since Antiquity but which has still affected some 250 million people and caused 600,000 deaths. last year in the world.

In Cameroon, we now vaccinate babies who live in the regions most affected by this parasite. At Soa hospital, in the hills surrounding the capital, Yaoundé, Henriette came to have her second boy vaccinated. Last year, his eldest, also a baby, almost died of malaria: “He was six months old, he was vomiting and his temperature was very highshe says. A lot of people don’t know it’s a deadly thing.”

Vomiting, fever, convulsions… Malaria represented six million cases last year in Cameroon, and this parasite transmitted by mosquitoes killed 4,000 people, the vast majority of them babies. They are therefore the targets of this vaccine, which is injected for the first time in the world “routinely”, that is to say that it is included in the vaccination schedule of babies, in the same way as the vaccine BCG or that against polio.

Vaccination rather well accepted by parents

That day, Danièle Ekoto, who supervises the vaccination session, explains the process to around thirty mothers with their babies in their arms: “The malaria vaccine is taken in four doses. Your child will receive one dose at six months, seven months, nine months and two years. All these doses are really important, ladies !”

The malaria vaccine is free but not obligatory. Despite rumors, false information about its effectiveness and supposed side effects, parental support is strong, explains Hélène Kwekam, who manages vaccine logistics in the district: “For the moment we have not had any cases of refusal. The parents agree, because they have already seen many malaria patients. They want their children to be protected.”

Finally witnessing the vaccination of babies moves Marie-Claire NDzomo Andela, a nurse for over 30 years: “Every day I had hope that there would be a vaccine for malaria. It happened before I retired !she rejoices. It will change the lives of Cameroonians. There were too many deaths, many children…”

Vaccines still imperfect

Studies carried out in Kenya, Malawi and Ghana show that the vaccine from the GSK laboratory for example, the one being injected today in Cameroon, does not prevent the transmission of malaria. But it prevents 30% of serious forms and deaths, underlines Dr Léonard Kouadio, one of the leaders in Cameroon of Unicef, which partly organizes this vaccination: “If we avoid 30% of deaths among children under 5, that’s already a lot ! We’ve been chasing this vaccine for more than 50 years, so it’s a revolution.”

These two vaccines, one developed by the GSK laboratory and the other by the University of Oxford, are a first step, specialists insist. These are additional tools, but under no circumstances should we abandon other means of fighting malaria. “We must maintain and intensify other measuressays Dr. Kouadio, such as the use of impregnated mosquito nets, or weeding around homes to destroy anything that can serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes.”

This free vaccination is being carried out under the leadership and funding of the WHO, Unicef ​​and the Gavi Alliance, which had distributed billions of Covid vaccines to poor countries in particular. After Cameroon, a dozen African countries will introduce routine vaccination of babies: Burkina Faso already for a few days, then in the coming weeks Benin, the DRC, Sierra Leone, Niger… Countries of Asia, India, are also studying the possibility of vaccinating against malaria soon.