Millions around the world are still waiting to get a life-saving vaccine — and it’s not the COVID-19 shot, according to a GFA World press release.
Human trials of a new malaria vaccine are underway, with promising initial results, according to a new report by humanitarian agency GFA World (www.gfa.org) that coincides with World Malaria Day, April 25, an annual event.
GFA World reports the quest to develop an effective malaria vaccine — a shot that could save millions of lives — has proved difficult and is still ongoing.
“Malaria is one of the most rampant child-killers in the world today,” said K.P. Yohannan, founder of Texas-based GFA World, formerly Gospel for Asia. “For countless millions across Africa, Asia and other parts of the world, an effective vaccine against malaria would be like a dream.”
COVID ‘Stalls Malaria Fight’
But with the world laser-focused on the global COVID-19 pandemic, efforts to wipe out malaria have stalled, the report says.
Lockdowns and other restrictions have essentially halted malaria-fighting efforts in dozens of countries, leading to fears of a sharp increase in malaria deaths in 2021 — likely a death toll of hundreds of thousands in sub-Saharan Africa.
Malaria — an often-fatal sickness spread by infected mosquitoes — claims nearly half a million lives around the world every year, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, and is “humanity’s most deadly infectious disease,” according to GFA World’s report.
A new experimental vaccine developed using mosquito spit has shown promise in early studies, says the just-released report, Malaria Makes Comeback Amid A Pandemic [http://www.gfa.org/press/malaria-report].
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SOURCE: Assist News Service
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