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Oxford develops effective vaccine against malaria – Report
A significant leap in the global fight against malaria has been recorded as scientists in the UK have developed the world’s most effective malaria vaccine with 77 per cent efficacy against the disease.
Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female anopheles mosquitoes.
A World malaria report, released in November 2020, shows that there were 229 million global cases of malaria in 2019 — mostly in Africa — while the estimated number of malaria deaths stood at 409 000 in 2019.
Researchers at the Jenner Institute of Oxford University and their partners, said findings from a phase IIb trial of R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine, demonstrated high-level efficacy of 77 per cent.
The researchers noted that they are the first to develop a drug that meets the World Health Organisation (WHO) Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap goal of a vaccine with at least 75 percent efficacy.
According to the researchers, the phase IIb randomised, controlled, double-blind trial was conducted on 450 participants between the age of 5 and 17 months in Burkina Faso.
The participants were split into three groups, with the first two groups receiving the R21/Matrix-M (with either a low dose or high dose of the Matrix-M adjuvant) and the third, a rabies vaccine as the control group.
The doses were administered from early May 2019 to early August 2019, largely before the peak malaria season.
The researchers said result from the trial showed a vaccine efficacy of 77 per cent in the higher-dose adjuvant group, and 71 percent in the lower dose adjuvant group.
The vaccine was administered with over 12 months of follow-up and no serious adverse effect related to the vaccine was reported.
Following the results of the phase IIb trial, the vaccination was extended with a booster dose administered before the next malaria season one year later.
The researchers said it had now commenced phase three trial to assess large-scale safety and efficacy in 4,800 children, aged five-36 months, across four African countries.
Director of Jenner Institute, Adrian Hill, said the vaccine marked a significant trajectory in the global fight against malaria.
“These new results support our high expectations for the potential of this vaccine, which we believe is the first to reach the WHO’s goal of a vaccine for malaria with at least 75 per cent efficacy,” he said.
Hill said, “With the commitment by our commercial partner, the Serum Institute of India, to manufacture at least 200 million doses annually in the coming years, the vaccine has the potential to have major public health impact if licensure is achieved.”
Hill added that the institute would apply for emergency approval of the vaccine.
“I’m making the argument as forcefully as I can, that because malaria kills a lot more people than COVID in Africa, you should think about emergency-use authorisation for a malaria vaccine for use in Africa. And that’s never been done before,” he said.
News
Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name
Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name
Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has directed the immediate freezing of all state-owned bank accounts.
In a statement issued on Thursday by his Chief Press Secretary, Fred Itua, the governor stated that the accounts would remain frozen until further notice.
He instructed commercial banks, ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to comply with the order immediately or face severe consequences.
The statement reads: “All state bank accounts with commercial banks have been frozen. Commercial banks must comply with this order and ensure that not a single naira is withdrawn from government coffers until further notice.
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“Heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies must ensure full compliance without delay.
“Following necessary investigations and reconciliations, the governor will take appropriate action and decide on the way forward. For now, this order remains in effect.”
Okpebholo also directed relevant agencies to revert the name of the Ministry of Roads and Bridges to its previous title, the Ministry of Works, a change made during the Godwin Obaseki administration.
“It is odd to name a government institution the Ministry of Roads and Bridges, especially when not a single bridge was built by the previous administration — not even a pedestrian bridge.
“In the coming days, we will examine further actions taken by the previous administration and make decisions that serve the best interests of the state,” the statement added.
Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name
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Israel-Palestinian conflict: Two-state solution is a deception, says Gumi
Israel-Palestinian conflict: Two-state solution is a deception, says Gumi
Prominent Islamic scholar Dr. Ahmad Mahmud Gumi has criticized the widely discussed two-state solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict, calling it a “deception.”
His remarks followed a recent summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Riyadh, where President Bola Tinubu and other leaders condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza and urged an end to hostilities.
In an interview with Daily Trust at his Kaduna residence, Gumi argued, “This Two-State Solution is a deception. No Israeli will allow a Palestinian to survive, and Palestinians will never allow Israel to survive.
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The only solution is to dissolve the two states and create a democratically electable region.”
Gumi commended the OIC’s support for Palestine, noting that Muslims and Arabs worldwide increasingly see the treatment of Palestinians as “genocide” and accuse Israel of human rights abuses.
He also called for a return to the pre-1948 structure, where Palestinians, Jews, and Christians lived together, suggesting a single, inclusive state that allows peaceful coexistence.
“When I hear people talking about Two-State Solutions, I know they are just deceiving themselves,” Gumi added, advocating for a unified region where people of all faiths can live together, similar to the multi-faith coexistence seen in countries like the United States.
Israel-Palestinian conflict: Two-state solution is a deception, says Gumi
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Court sacks Ondo LP candidate, two days to governorship poll
Court sacks Ondo LP candidate, two days to governorship poll
The Labour Party candidature of Olusola Ebiseni for the upcoming gubernatorial election in Ondo State has been nullified.
The nullification follows the sacking of Ebiseni by the Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday.
The governorship election of the southwest State will hold on Saturday, 16 November 2024.
The judgement disqualifying Ebiseni was unanimously delivered by the three members of the panel and read out by the chairman of the panel, Justice Adebukola Banjoko.
The judgment granted the prayer of the Labour Party who preferred the case against Ebiseni.
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Justice Banjoko held that, “the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/1172/2024 brought by the Labour Party against Chief Olusola Ebiseni and two others is allowed.”
Justice Banjoko further stated that the Certified True Copy of the judgment would be provided to the parties involved in the appeal as soon as possible for their review.
Recall that Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja had ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to accept and recognize Olusola Ebiseni and Ezekiel Awude as the Labour Party’s governorship and deputy governorship candidates for the November 16 Ondo State governorship elections.
Justice Nwite confirmed that the second primary election conducted by the Labour Party, which resulted in Ebiseni and Awude being selected as candidates, was valid and should be upheld by INEC.
However, the appellate court has now overturned the judgment of the trial court’s judgment.
Court sacks Ondo LP candidate, two days to governorship poll
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