In this Q&A, Dr Kwaku Poku Asante, director of the Kintampo Health Research Centre in Ghana reflects on the potential implications of the RTS,S seasonal vaccination study findings for Ghana and other countries in the region. What is seasonal malaria and what challenges does it present to malaria control progress?Seasonal malaria refers to the period within which we have the most malaria cases and deaths, because of high transmission. During this rainy period of around four months, young children get bitten by mosquitos more frequently and end up with high levels...

Two years on from the launch of a pilot programme, more than 1.7 million doses of the world’s first malaria vaccine have been administered in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, benefitting more than 650 000 children with additional malaria protection.The number of children reached in this relatively short period indicates strong community demand for the vaccine as well as the capacity of the countries’ child immunization programmes to deliver the vaccine on a novel schedule (4 doses up to about age 2 years).At a time when global progress in malaria control...