About Malaria and Malaria Vaccines
A child dies of malaria every 30 seconds, according to the World Health Organization's malaria fact sheet. The disease is spread by mosquitoes, which inject the parasite Plasmodium falciparum or Plasmodium vivax into a person's bloodstream. These parasites invade the liver and then red blood cells, causing fevers, chills, and other symptoms. Malaria's most common victims are children, who have not yet developed any natural resistance to the parasite, and pregnant women, whose immune defenses are lowered.
Malaria is endemic in up to 46 African countries. Multiple malaria interventions—vector control measures, intermittent preventative treatment, and antimalarial drugs—are available. However, drug resistance is growing in many areas, and financing and delivering these interventions is persistently difficult. Even a partially effective vaccine will be an essential complement to other interventions in many malaria control and immunization programs.
The PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative
In response to these challenges, the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) was established in 1999 through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. MVI strives to accelerate the development of malaria vaccines. In addition, MVI works to ensure the future accessibility and affordability of malaria vaccines, and to engage malaria-endemic countries to encourage their ownership and leadership in achieving malaria vaccine coverage.
For more information about malaria and malaria vaccines:
- The World Health Organization's malaria page provides general and technical information, malaria publications and statistics, and links to information about malaria in each of the WHO regions.
- The PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative's website provides the latest development news and key publications and resources.
- A comprehensive 2007 report on the malaria product pipeline (PDF 4.0 MB) produced by the George Institute for International Health describes the resources that will be needed for clinical development of the global malaria vaccine and drug portfolio from 2007 to 2012.
- The seven technical briefing papers that informed preparation for the Decision-Making Framework project provide background information about malaria vaccines and the decision-making context in malaria-endemic regions.