Early planning is everything
Countries bearing the greatest burden of malaria would need to decide whether or not to introduce a malaria vaccine soon after one is available. When it comes to such decisions, early planning is everything.
Decisions on whether or not to introduce a malaria vaccine will be especially complex, since no such vaccine currently exists, and because, ideally, a first one would be used alongside existing malaria control strategies. Countries bearing the burden of malaria would therefore need adequate time to gather all the necessary evidence for decisions on possible vaccine use.
The planning tool for developing decision-making frameworks for malaria vaccines outlines the possible time of a vaccine’s availability and promotes early attention to collection of data and other needs for evidence-based decisions. Without early planning, a potentially lifesaving intervention could sit on the shelf for years.