World's first Malaria vaccine approved by WHO. Here's all you need to know

The WHO on Wednesday endorsed the world's first malaria vaccine.

The decision followed a review of a pilot programme deployed since 2019 in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi in which more than two million doses were given of the vaccine.

After reviewing evidence from those countries, the WHO said it was "recommending the broad use of the world's first malaria vaccine", the agency's director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

The WHO has recommended that the malaria vaccine should be given to children across Africa.

The world body said it was recommending children in sub-Saharan Africa and in other regions with moderate to high malaria transmission get four doses up to the age of two.

The malaria vaccine known as Mosquirix was developed by GlaxoSmithKline in 1987. While it's the first to be authorised, it does have challenges: the vaccine is only about 30 per cent effective, requires up to four doses and its protection fades after several months.

The mosquito-borne disease kills more than 4 lakh people a year, mostly African children.