Clinical Trials On Malarial Vaccine

Clinical trials to test the efficacy of a malarial vaccine expected to make a major breakthrough in the fight against the disease has begun at the Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC).

The KHRC is among 11 research centres in eight African countries which have been selected to conduct the trial of the vaccine, which is called RTSS.

Already the vaccine, which has gone through its first and second phases of trial, has been found to be safe and barring any hitch, scientists in Africa have targeted the next three years to complete the third phase of the clinical trial.

A total of 16,000 children in the eight African countries, which are participating in the clinical trial, would be selected for the trial to test the efficacy of the vaccine.

Other African countries taking part in the clinical trial of the vaccine are Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Malawi, Mozambique and Kenya.

Scientists expect that the vaccine would be able to prevent about 50 per cent of cases of malaria, which would reduce the health budget of African countries.

Malaria is the single biggest killer of children under five and the resolve to initiate actions, including the strengthening of health systems to deal with the disease, remains a dream as children on the continent continue to be killed by malaria.

Should the experiment prove successful and the vaccine eventually licensed by the World Health Organisation and the other regulatory bodies, it would serve as the basis for the introduction of the malarial vaccination into the EPI, where children are protected against major childhood killer diseases such as polio, whooping cough and tuberculosis.

In his address during the launch of the trial, the Director of the KHRC, Dr Seth Owusu-Agyei, noted that although malaria was being controlled by a number of methods, it still remained a headache to African countries.

He said African countries were championing the trial since about 90 per cent of deaths caused by the disease occurred on the continent.

Dr Owusu-Agyei explained that since vaccines had been found to play important role in the fight against a number of diseases throughout the world, the development of the malarial vaccine would be a major breakthrough for the health sector.

He said in Kenya and Tanzania, it was found out that the vaccine could prevent about half of malarial cases and explained that if the current trial for the efficacy of the vaccine was successful, “it will chart the path for development of a more protective vaccine that could achieve about 90 per cent results”.

“Three years from now, depending on the results of the trials in the eight African countries, there will be the opportunity for the WHO and other regulatory bodies to take a decision to come up with a malarial vaccine,” he said.

He called on the chiefs and people and the authorities of the Kintampo Municipal Assembly and the Kintampo South District Assembly, where the trials were being conducted, to co-operate with the KHRC to enable it to successfully conduct its research.

The Medical Superintendent of the Kintampo Municipal Hospital, Dr Dimien Punguyire, said the hospital had collaborated with the KHRC as part of its contribution to the trial of the malarial vaccine.

He said medical practitioners, especially those in Africa, were all looking forward to the discovery of a malarial vaccine, since funds used for fighting malaria could be channelled into other areas.

Launching the trial, the Brong Ahafo Regional Director of Health Service, Dr Aaron Offei, stated that the selection of the KHRC to be part of the malarial vaccine test trial showed the efficiency of the centre and called on the people in the area to assist the centre to be successful in its endeavours.

He commended the director and staff of the centre for their dedication and expressed the hope that their efforts would give more strength to the fight against the deadly malaria diseases.

The Chief of Kintampo, Nana Awuti Kufuor, said Kintampo had become synonymous with research and expressed the hope that the ongoing research to find a malarial vaccine would be another landmark in the history of the town.

Earlier, a facility constructed as part of the clinical trial of the malarial vaccine at Jema in the Kintampo South District was inaugurated during which the people expressed their willingness to collaborate with the centre during the exercise.

Story : Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah