Malaria vaccines RTS,S and R21, and India's 2027/2030 malaria elimination goal
Why in news: On 23 October 2026, Bharat Biotech announced a Gavi-backed UNICEF deal to sell RTS,S at EUR 5.50 a dose from early 2027.
RTS,S/AS01 and R21/Matrix-M are the two malaria vaccines recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), both given to young children against Plasmodium falciparum malaria in four doses. India aims at zero indigenous cases by 2027 and elimination by 2030. On 23 October 2026, Bharat Biotech announced a Gavi-backed UNICEF agreement cutting its RTS,S price by about 40%.
Syllabus: Prelims · Science & Technology; GS3 · Science & Technology; GS2 · Health, Education & Human Resources
Why this matters for UPSC
Malaria vaccines sit in GS III science and technology and GS II health. Prelims can ask which parasite RTS,S/AS01 and R21/Matrix-M target and who makes them; Mains, India's National Framework for Malaria Elimination and Gavi's role in vaccine access.
In short
RTS,S/AS01 and R21/Matrix-M are the two WHO-recommended, prequalified vaccines against P. falciparum malaria in young children, a new tool in a disease India aims to eliminate by 2030.
Vaccines can save African children, but India's 2030 goal depends on surveillance, treatment and vector control reaching its last tribal, forest and border pockets.
Why it matters
A child in a high-transmission African village who completes four doses is far less likely to fall ill in the months when malaria strikes hardest, and early childhood deaths fell in the pilot countries. Because poor countries buy these vaccines with donor help, every euro cut from a dose lets the same budget reach more children; most countries still vaccinate below their own targets for lack of money. In India, the risk sits with families in tribal, forest and border districts, where an untested fever from P. falciparum can turn severe within a day. India's plan rests on finding, treating and tracking every case and controlling mosquitoes, so that nobody catches malaria inside the country after 2027.
Prelims pointers
- Plasmodium species: five infect humans (P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae, P. ovale, P. knowlesi); P. falciparum causes the most deaths.
- Vector control: insecticide-treated nets and indoor residual spraying are WHO's two core interventions; Anopheles stephensi is an invasive urban vector now detected in eight African countries.
- Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (2019-2023): RTS,S reached over 2 million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi; early childhood deaths fell 13% among age-eligible children.
- NSP 2023-2027 targets: zero indigenous cases in all States and UTs by 2027; malaria elimination certification by 2030.
- WHO malaria-free certification: a country may apply after at least three consecutive years of zero indigenous cases.
- WHO Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030: cut case incidence and mortality by at least 90% by 2030 and eliminate malaria in at least 35 countries.
- Treatment: artemisinin-based combination therapy is the most effective for P. falciparum; primaquine is added to prevent P. vivax and P. ovale relapses.
Practise a UPSC-style question
With reference to the malaria vaccines recommended by the World Health Organization, consider the following statements:
1. RTS,S/AS01 was developed by GSK with PATH and is now manufactured by Bharat Biotech.
2. Both RTS,S/AS01 and R21/Matrix-M act against the parasite Plasmodium falciparum.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Show the answer
Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2
Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2. Both statements give the vaccines' makers and target correctly.
Statement 1: correct. RTS,S/AS01 came from GSK and PATH; Bharat Biotech manufactures it under the Mosqivac brand after a technology transfer from GSK.
Statement 2: correct. WHO says both RTS,S and R21 act against P. falciparum, the deadliest malaria parasite and the most prevalent in Africa.
Eliminate: Statement 2 is the surest, as both vaccines are recommended to prevent P. falciparum malaria. Out: (a), (d).
Eliminate: Statement 1 holds too, since Bharat Biotech makes RTS,S as Mosqivac. Out: (b).
Trap: Swapped attribution. A student who links India's malaria vaccine maker only to R21 (Serum Institute) may wrongly reject statement 1.
Remember: RTS,S = GSK and PATH, made by Bharat Biotech; R21 = Oxford University, made by Serum Institute of India.
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