"We have a capacity to considerably reduce the number of cases and deaths from malaria and accelerate the elimination of the disease," he told the BBC. Development of the RTS,S vaccine has taken 30 years of research by the British drug-maker GSK. The World Health Organization, which approved the vaccine, hailed the launch in Cameroon as a historic moment in the global fight against the mosquito-borne disease. It comes after successful pilot campaigns in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi. Twenty other countries aim to roll out the program this year, according to the global vaccine alliance, Gavi. Among them are Burkina Faso, Liberia, Niger and Sierra Leone. The WHO says Cameroon records about six million malaria cases every year, with 4,000 deaths in health facilities — most of them children below five. Six-month-old children in 42 districts with the greatest rates of morbidity and mortality will receive four doses until the age of two. In 2021, Africa accounted for 95% of malaria cases globally and about 96% of related deaths. — BBC