At the end of October, the Democratic Republic of Congo will officially introduce the anti-malaria vaccine into the treatment of children in accordance with the global strategy to eliminate malaria by 2030. This was announced during the ten -seventh meeting of the council of ministers held last Friday. The introduction of this vaccine is expected to significantly strengthen the DRC’s efforts to protect this vulnerable age group.
“The Minister of Public Health, Hygiene and Social Welfare informed the council of the introduction from the 4th quarter of the current year of the anti-malaria vaccine in our country in accordance with the global technical strategy for the elimination of malaria “by 2030. This R21-Matrix-M vaccine will be administered to children aged 6 to 24 months from October 29, 2024 in the Kongo Central pilot province before expanding to all provinces by geographical area”, reports the account. minutes of the meeting.
At the same time, the Minister of Public Health, Hygiene and Social Welfare reviewed the epidemiological situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and took stock of current response actions. Regarding Mpox, he returned to the vaccination campaign which started well on October 5, 2024 in North Kivu and October 6, 2024 in South Kivu, the continuation of the launch in the 9 remaining provinces, the preparations for vaccination against the Mpox in Kinshasa.
“Regarding cholera, all actions carried out as part of the response plan are continuing. This is the case for mentioning the free treatment of cases in treatment centers, the investigation of cases and sampling of samples in affected health areas”.
According to a press release from UNICEF, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) takes an important step in the fight against malaria with the arrival on Thursday June 13, 2024 in Kinshasa of a batch of 693,500 doses of the anti-malaria vaccine called R 21 Matrix -Mr. These doses are intended to vaccinate children aged 6 to 23 months against malaria, a disease that affects millions of people in the DRC and across the African continent.
According to the cited source, this vaccine has already been introduced in several countries on the continent such as Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Cameroon, Benin, Burkina Faso.
Clement MUAMBA
