By Desmond Ejibas
Port Harcourt – A cross section of Nigerians in Port Harcourt, the Rivers capital, on Friday expressed their excitement over the breakthrough research on malaria vaccine.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday announced the breakthrough of Mosquirix vaccine in treatment of malaria parasite.
The vaccine developed by British drug maker, GlaxoSmithKline, began the vaccine trial in 2019 with 2.3 million doses of Masquirix administered to infants in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi.
Some residents in an interview with NAN In Port Harcourt described the breakthrough as a welcome development.
Prof. Chijioke Nwauche, the NDDC Professorial Chair for Malaria Elimination and Phytomedicine Research in the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) said the vaccine has been long overdue.
“The malaria vaccine breakthrough is going to make a colossal impact on Nigerians going by the fact that 60 per cent of the over 200 million Nigerians are under 40 years.
“This number comprises mainly of children who need to be protected considering the high mortality rate for infants and children in Nigeria.
“The vaccine from my understanding has more than 80 per cent efficacy rate which will be quite impactful on the health of Nigerians, particularly children,” he said.
Nwauche called on the Federal Government to immediately begin to engage with WHO and others to make the vaccine available in the country.
“So, it has to be a collaborative effort involving many groups with the government providing the enabling environment for the rollout,” he said.
The President of Resident Doctors in UNIPORT, Dr Samuel Ameh said the vaccine breakthrough was a huge achievement in modern medicine.
He said the announcement came at the right time when many Nigerians were concerned over worsening living conditions in the country.
“Nigerians are excited with this development that will be of immense benefit to all considering that malaria parasite is a major killer disease in Nigeria.
“So, the Federal Government should start collaborative engagement with WHO and non-governmental organisations to make the vaccine available to Nigerians at no cost to them.
“But even if the government provides the vaccine free it can offer the vaccine to Nigerians at a very highly subsidised rate,” he advised.
Also, Mr Nnimmo Bassey, an environmental activist said that Nigerians and Africans had long suffered from diseases caused by malaria parasites.
According to him, the vaccine would go a long way addressing the current high mortality rate of children especially those in rural areas – worst hit by malaria parasite.
“But beyond the vaccine, the government needs to invest more in sanitation as well as embark on housing in a clean environment, to reduce their exposure to harmful insects,” Nnimmo added.
On his part, Darlington Nwauju, the Spokesman of Niger Delta Rights Advocates, called on the Federal Government to prioritise the malaria vaccine rollout as it handled COVID-19 vaccine in the country.
Malaria parasite, Nwauju said, has killed more Nigerians annually compared to deaths from Human Immunedeficiency virus (HIV). (NAN)
