Why in News?  

Bharat Biotech and GSK announced that the price of the world’s first malaria vaccine for children, RTS,S, will be reduced to under USD 5 by 2028. 

About Malaria 

• Malaria is an acute febrile illness caused by Plasmodium parasites. 
• It spreads through the bite of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. 
• It is life-threatening, but both preventable and curable. 
• Common in tropical regions. 

Transmission 

• Not contagious; cannot spread directly from person to person. 
• Spread only through the bite of female Anopheles mosquitoes. 
• Five Plasmodium species can infect humans, 
  • Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax are the most dangerous. 

Malaria Vaccines 

• RTS,S (Mosquirix): First malaria vaccine, approved by WHO in 2021. 
• R21 (Matrix-M): Second malaria vaccine developed for disease prevention. 

Malaria-Free Countries 

• Since 2015, 9 countries certified as malaria-free by WHO Director-General, 
  • Maldives, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Paraguay, Uzbekistan, Argentina, Algeria, China (2021) and El Salvador (2021).