[Africanews] – Nigeria has initiated a malaria vaccination program to address the world’s highest malaria burden, which claimed around 200,000 lives last year.
The vaccination targets young children, starting with the first dose at five months. The southern state of Bayelsa, known for its high malaria rates, is one of the first to roll out the program.
Rebecca Godspower, who has treated her six-month-old baby for malaria twice, brought him for vaccination, expressing relief: 
“Now that there’s a vaccine for malaria, at least I’m happy, I am glad that stress won’t be there again.”
This sentiment was shared by another mother, Esther Michael, who also visited the clinic: “I’m happy to bring my child to the health centre to take a vaccine because we hear that malaria is killing other children.”
Malaria poses severe risks to infants, young children, pregnant women, travelers, and individuals with HIV or AIDS.
Bayelsa State Commissioner for Health, Professor Seiyefa Brisibe, highlighted the high infection rates: “It accounts for about 30 per cent of deaths in children under five and it also accounts for a good number of reasons why adults, both mothers and fathers, stay out of a job.”
Despite the program’s success in Bayelsa, challenges such as vaccine misinformation persist. Professor Brisibe noted, “Religious leaders, some religious sects do not believe that people need to take vaccine, so that penetrates to society.”
Nigeria wants to greatly lessen the impact of malaria on its people by addressing the illness as well as the myths around it.
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