Director of KHRC presents results from MVIP for the first time at the 2023 ASTMH Annual Meeting

October 26, 2023 | News | Reading time: 4 min

Dr. Kwaku Poku Asante, Director of KHRC and a principal investigator of the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP) evaluation team delivered a presentation at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) in Chicago, USA, which took place from October 18 to 22, 2022.

Dr. Asante participated in a symposium titled "Symposium 72: Evidence and Lessons Learned from the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (2019-2023)," where he provided key insights into the Malaria Vaccine Pilot Evaluation. His presentation focused on the safety, impact, and feasibility analysis of the RTS,S malaria vaccine 46 months post-introduction.

He unveiled groundbreaking findings from 46 months of surveillance conducted during the implementation and scaling up of the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine as part of the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP). These results marked the first public presentation of this vital data.

The results disclosed that the pilot introduction of the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccination in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi had resulted in a significant 13% reduction in mortality among children eligible for vaccination, along with a substantial 22% decrease in hospital admissions due to severe malaria.

MVIP, established by the World Health Organization (WHO), aimed to evaluate the public health implications of the RTS,S malaria vaccine in selected places in Africa. It was this initiative's preliminary findings that played a pivotal role in informing WHO's historic recommendation for a malaria vaccine in October 2021.

The session, co-chaired by Mr. John Bawa of PATH and Dr. Rafiq Okine of WHO, featured additional speakers who delved into the lessons learned from the pilot program, key takeaways from the RTS,S malaria vaccine pilot experience and discussed the future implications for malaria vaccines.

These speakers included John Bawa, Africa Lead for Vaccine Implementation at PATH; Dr. Mary J Hamel, Team Lead, Malaria Vaccines, WHO and Dr. Kwame Amponsa-Achiano, Program Manager of Ghana's Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI).