World's First Malaria Vaccine A Step Closer To Use On Babies

06:37

July 24, 2015

A mother sits with her sick child in a bed with mosquito net in a hospital on April 24, 2015 in the popular suburb of Port-Bouet in Abidjan, on the eve of the World Malaria Day on April 25, 2015. (Sia Kambou/AFP/Getty Images)

The world's first malaria vaccine has been given the green light by drug regulators in Europe.

Malaria killed more than half a million people in 2013 and most of those who died were children living in Sub-Saharan Africa.

British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline has been trying to develop a malaria vaccine for 30 years. The vaccine is called Mosquirix, and it has shown effectiveness at fending off the mosquito-born disease in trials. It has shown effectiveness at fending off the mosquito-born disease in trials, but there are still big concerns about how well it will actually work.

Carla Botting of the Malaria Vaccine Initiative joins Here & Now's Meghna Chakrabarti to talk about the significance of the vaccine and its early-trial results.

Guest

Carla Botting, director of product development and access for the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative.

This segment aired on July 24, 2015.