India, April 29 -- In a significant step forward for malaria prevention in Africa, three countries- Benin, Liberia and Sierra Leone- have launched a large-scale rollout of the life-saving malaria vaccine targeting millions of children across the three West African nations. The vaccine rollout, announced on World Malaria Day on 25 April, seeks to further scale up vaccine deployment in the African region.

The launch brings to eight the number of countries on the continent to offer the malaria vaccine as part of the childhood immunisation programmes, extending access to more comprehensive malaria prevention.

Several of the more than 30 countries in the African region that have expressed interest in the vaccine are scheduled to roll it out ...