A substantial reduction in deaths from all causes in children eligible for vaccination, a robust safety profile and no discernible reduction in the use of other anti-malaria interventions were just some of the highlights from a showcase of new results from the first large-scale implementation pilot of the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine.

The results point to the potential of RTS,S/AS01 and the similar R21/MatrixM malaria vaccine to save “tens of thousands of lives each year” if broadly implemented, says Mary Hamel, WHO’s head of the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP), which coordinated the country-led pilot in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi.