LET’S TEST USING MOSQUITRIX VERSUS MALARIA

LET’S TEST USING MOSQUITRIX VERSUS MALARIA

Dear Mr. President: To my surprise, the carrier of the malaria disease, the female Anopheles mosquito, is alive and well and living in Palawan. The disease is caused by Plasmodium parasites that are spread through the bites of infected Anopheles mosquitos. Once the parasites enter the bloodstream, they travel to the liver, where they mature and multiply before infecting the red blood cells.

Well, to be exact, the Anopheles mosquito could be also living in other places of the Philippines, but Palawan is where 6,188 cases of malaria were reported, out of the 6, 248 cases reported nationwide. Unfortunately, there are no vaccines yet that are available for use against malaria in the Philippines. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the Mosquitrix vaccine for Malaria prevention in children living in malaria-stricken regions in the world, but up to now, these vaccines are used only in pilot programs in Africa.

As of now, Mosquitrix is not being used in the Philippines yet, and there is no available information whether anyone, from the government or the private sector has applied for approval from the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It seems logical to speculate that the most likely applicant will be the local company of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), since it was GSK that developed the vaccine in collaboration with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), with partial funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

According to Microsoft Copilot, “the vaccine requires at least three doses in infants by age 2, with a fourth dose extending protection for another 1-2 years. It has been shown to reduce hospital admissions from severe malaria by around 30% and toddler deaths by 15%”. Copilot also says that “symptoms of malaria can include fever, chills, headache, nausea and muscle pain. In severe cases, it can lead to complications like anemia, cerebral malaria and organ failure”. Are these not enough reasons for us to plan and already start pilot-testing Mosquitrix, preferably in Palawan?

Mr. President, we all have reason to believe that our country is prone to diseases that are carried by mosquitos. Two of the best-known diseases are malaria and dengue, but there could be more. It is still fresh in our memory that we were totally caught unaware by the Covid 19 pandemic. As a matter of fact, we had no choice but to use a vaccine that was not fully tested, because we had to do it as a matter of survival. Fortunately, Sir, in this case of malaria, there is a vaccine that has already been tested with good results, and there is really nothing that stops us now from also start testing it ourselves.

How and where do we start Sir? Perhaps with the local offices of both GSK and Microsoft, because for sure they will be able to connect us with their headquarters. Both the DFA and the DTI could also request our embassy in Washington, DC because Microsoft is based in the US. Our embassy in London could talk to GSK, being based there in  the UK. Other than that, perhaps the DOH could coordinate with the local or regional offices of the WHO, to start the ball rolling. IKE SENERES/11-05-2024

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