DR Congo to begin malaria vaccination campaign Tuesday

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The Democratic Republic of Congo will begin a vaccination campaign against malaria next Tuesday, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday.

The DRC health ministry "will launch for the first time the introduction of the malaria vaccine ... on October 29," the WHO delegation covering the central African country said in a statement shared on X.

The first vaccinations will take place in the Kongo Central province in the southwest of the country.

Malaria is a potentially fatal disease spread to humans by some types of mosquitos, with symptoms including fever, headaches and jaundice.

In June "a first batch of 693,500 doses of the R 21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine" arrived in the DRC, the WHO said in a press release at the time.

"These doses are intended to vaccinate children aged 6 to 23 months against malaria, a disease that affects millions of people in the DRC and across the African continent," the statement said.

The same vaccine has already been introduced in other African countries including Kenya, Cameroon, Malawi and Benin.

Africa has a "disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden", the WHO says on its website.

In 2022 the continent accounted for 94 percent of malaria cases and 95 percent of malaria deaths, according to the UN health body.

Children under five made up 80 percent of all malaria deaths in the region.