Expert panel says India doesn't meet criteria for Malaria Vaccines: MoS Health
R21 Vaccine Not for India Yet, Government Informs Parliament
New Delhi: In a recent Lok Sabha session, the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Smt. Anupriya Patel informed that the government has decided not to proceed with the immediate inclusion of malaria vaccines in the Indian healthcare system.
The decision follows a detailed review by an expert committee, which assessed the suitability of malaria vaccines for India. The committee concluded that the country does not currently meet the necessary criteria for vaccine introduction, as malaria vaccines are primarily recommended for areas with moderate to high transmission rates and high risk of child mortality due to malaria.
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During a session of the Lok Sabha, MPs Shri Sudheer Gupta, Shri Dhairyasheel Mane, Shri Manish Jaiswal, and Shri Chavan Ravindra Vasantrao inquired about whether India’s first malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, has been co-developed by the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India, and if so, the details thereof.
They asked whether the vaccine has received regulatory approval for use in the country.
They also asked if so, the details thereof, along with the timeline for its rollout;
They inquired if not the time by which it is likely to be available in the market;
They asked the manner in which the said development is likely to be helpful in India’s Malaria Elimination goals under the National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME); and
Furthermore, they seek to know the steps taken/being taken by the Government to ensure access, affordability, and large-scale deployment of the vaccine, particularly in highly affected regions?
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In response to these queries, MoS Smt. Anupriya Patel clarified that, “The matter for use of Malaria vaccine in the context of India has been reviewed in a duly constituted expert committee, which recommended that India does not fall within the criteria for adopting Malaria vaccines as the vaccines are used for moderate to high transmission settings with a risk of Malaria deaths in children.”
