SWITZERLAND – The World Health Organization (WHO) has published an updated position paper on the RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine with recommendations for October 2021.

The paper discusses expanding the use of the vaccine among children living in areas with moderate-to-high Plasmodium falciparum malaria transmission, as the recommendation was recently added to the WHO malaria guidelines.

Director of the Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, Dr. Kate O’Brien, said: “The first malaria vaccine is a major step forward for malaria control, child health and health equity. If implemented broadly, the vaccine could save thousands of lives each year.

“This guidance is essential to countries as they consider whether and how to adopt the vaccine as an additional tool to reduce child illness and deaths from malaria.”

The RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine is recommended by the WHO for the prevention of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in children living in areas with moderate to high transmission, as defined by the WHO.

The recommendation was recently added to the WHO’s consolidated malaria guidelines on the MAGICapp platform, which aggregated the WHO’s most up-to-date malaria recommendations in a user-friendly online platform and encouraged countries to adapt the recommendation to local settings.

Director of the WHO Global Malaria Programme, Dr. Pedro Alonso, said: “In recent years, the organization has been advising countries to discard a ‘one-size fits all’ approach to malaria control and apply tools informed by local data and disease patterns. The vaccine is a breakthrough addition to the malaria toolkit.”

The paper, which was published in the World Health Organization’s Weekly Epidemiological Record, summarizes key background information on the global malaria context and disease patterns.

It presents available RTS,S evidence, discusses the role of RTS,S in addition to other preventive measures, and outlines recommendations for broader vaccine deployment.

Furthermore, the paper identifies vaccine research priorities as well as considerations for immunization and health systems.

It also describes the development of a framework to guide the allocation of initial limited doses of malaria vaccine, as supplies of RTS,S are expected to be limited in the short to medium term.

The paper and the update to the WHO malaria guidelines incorporate the October 2021 recommendation on the malaria vaccine.

The 2021 paper was informed by a full evidence review of RTS,S by WHO’s global advisory bodies for malaria and immunization–the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization and the Malaria Policy Advisory Group (MPAG), both of which were approved by the WHO Guidelines Review Committee.

This newly released guidance will be followed by additional tools and information to assist countries that have decided to adopt the malaria vaccine, such as a new malaria vaccine introduction guide and an operational manual for sub-national tailoring of malaria control tools.

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