The global vaccine alliance Gavi is planning to introduce malaria vaccines in six to eight more countries this year after pilot programmes in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi posted successful results.

Announcing this in Nairobi last week, Gavi said the vaccine will protect an additional 13 million children by the end of the year.

The pilot programmes in the three countries reached two million children between 2019 and 2023 and led to a 13 percent drop in overall child mortality, said Gavi CEO Sania Nishtar.

“In 2025, Gavi plans to introduce malaria vaccines in six to eight new countries, including Uganda, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mali and Burundi,” she announced.

Some 12 million malaria pilot vaccine doses were administered in 17 African countries since 2023. This, Nishtar noted, contributed to a significant drop in caseload and fatalities among high-risk demographics, including children.

About five million children in the 17 malaria-endemic African countries – representing more than 70 percent of the global malaria burden – are now protected from the disease.

Nishtar said if the malaria vaccine is rolled out consistently, it would be a game changer in combating the mosquito-transmitted disease.

“This early data is a small indicator of the potential public health impact of a programme we hope to scale up dramatically by the end of this decade, protecting tens of millions of children around the world, and reducing the stress malaria imposes on African health systems,” she added.

Besides vaccines, other vital interventions like mass distribution of insecticide-treated nets have been pivotal in reducing malaria transmission and deaths in Africa, Gavi said.

Between 2026 and 2030, Gavi aims to help high-burden countries protect an additional 50 million children with four doses of the malaria vaccine upon availability of funding, Gavi said.