The NEJM, March 17, 2022 issue, had an article titled:
A Malaria Vaccine for Africa, an important step in a century-long quest.
(Pedro L Alonso MD and Katherine L O’Brian MD Global Malaria Program, WHO
As Free Methodists who have started hospitals in India, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo,
Haiti, South Africa, and Mozambique, this should be important news. For other Americans, whose vision ends with our shores, it may seem less important.
Frankly many Free Methodist Children around the world die of Malaria and many others are treated in our global medical clinics and hospitals. The article reminds us that
Malaria is still with us with over 240 million cases and 627,000 deaths, mainly
In children under 5 years of age who live in sub-Saharan Africa, which is where Free Methodists have many of our hospitals and clinics, plus a medical school in Burundi. What the NEJM article does not tell us is that it only costs a few dollars to treat a child for malaria. In Congo a 2 day hospitalization, medicine, IV and blood transfusion only costs fifty dollars, which is more than many families can pay. (Most people earn less than $2 per day) Children die due to lack of funds, or the inability to travel to get the treatment, yet thousands more do get treatment.
In spite of vector control, nets and medications, malaria deaths have increased in many countries. The article has a map which shows countries where malaria mortality has increased since 2015. In Congo the increase has been over 25%. If you talk with our Free Methodist doctors and nurses who practice in Congo, they will confirm this and see it every day.
The article discusses both prevention, treatment and a new vaccine which has been tested and given to over 850,000 children in Ghana, Malawi and Kenya. Vaccines are not always easy to develop. There is still no effective vaccine for HIV. It has taken many years to develop this malaria vaccine and it requires a series of 4 shots. It does no give full protections, but along with other measures, it helps. Yet despite the difficulties of giving a series of vaccine in Africa it did happen in 3 African countries. “The use of routine vaccination channels resulted in vaccine administration in 60% of children who had not been reached by mosquito -net distribution programs, thereby increasing the proportion of children with access to effective malaria-prevention tools to more than 90%, Vaccine implementation resulted in a 9% reduction in all -cause mortality and a 30% reduction in hospital admission of children with severe life-threating malaria”. NEJM March 17, 2022 1005-1007 Much of this was funded by the Bill Gates Foundation.
It can be done. The article also discussed the pushback on developing and testing such a vaccine. It will not be a great money maker for the biomedical industry, yet in spite of vector control and medications, deaths continued to increase in many countries.
When we consider the 25% increase in malaria deaths In the Congo from 2015 to 2020, this vaccine, along with many other measures, might help. People can read more details in the article itself, as well as on the WHO website under world malaria, which one can google. But I think there are some special lesions that our churches and members might learn. First, malaria is still with us, and in Congo, deaths in children increased by over 25% from 2015 to 2020. Net distribution and treatment with medicine work, but this is not working for many, including those in Congo.
Vaccination can also help, but this does not give complete protection and is costly.
AS one reads the article it appears that malaria seems neglected in relation to other disease in the United States. It is neglected by the medical industry and our medical schools.
Frankly it is also neglected by our churches. Only two Free Methodist churches contribute to medical care in Congo and the figures for other Free Methodist Medical ministries is also low. Most of our churches do not contribute to our medical facilities in the poor countries where we have facilities and in fact, many have no knowledge of what is happening there, or that we even have hospitals. How many of our members, or for that matter Americans, even know that over one half million children under 5 die of malaria in sub-Sahara Africa. The Gates Foundation knows and we know. Let others know.