STORY: Cameroon launches first malaria vaccination for children
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 22, 2023
DATELINE: Jan. 23, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:23
LOCATION: Yaounde
CATEGORY: HEALTH

SHOTLIST:
1. Photos of vaccine injection session at a vaccination center in Douala, Cameroon
2. various of the Soa district hospital in Yaounde, Cameroon
3. SOUNDBITE (French): DANIEL EKOTO, Nurse of the Soa district hospital

STORYLINE:

Cameroon started vaccinating children against malaria for the first time on Monday in an effort to contain the raging pandemic.

The Public Health Ministry of the country announced that the vaccine will be offered in both public and private health facilities across 42 health districts.

SOUNDBITE (French): DANIEL EKOTO, Nurse of the Soa district hospital
"On this first day, we administered vaccines to 20 infants, specifically 20 six-month-old babies, because, as you know, this concerns children who have reached the age of six months. It went off with a great deal of enthusiasm, especially on the part of the mothers who have been waiting so long for this vaccine. There were so many of them, and they were very supportive."

"The vaccine is intended as a complementary tool to other tried-and-tested effective malaria prevention and control measures," public health official Leonard Ewane said. 

Malaria, a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite, is responsible for 70 percent of deaths among children in Cameroon, according to the country's health ministry.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Yaounde.
(XHTV)