THE government hailed its vaccine partnership with India which will help combat malaria as one of the biggest killers of children in sub-Saharan Africa.
Collaboration between British scientists and Indian manufacturers has resulted in two essential life-saving malaria vaccines – RTS,S and R21 -- being developed.
These have been used in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, with two million children vaccinated since 2019, and, in January, Cameroon became the first country to give the vaccines to children routinely.
“Both vaccines are significant scientific breakthroughs and important additions to the range of tools we have for fighting malaria,” Anne-Marie Trevelyan, minister of state for the Indo-Pacific in the foreign, commonwealth and development office (FCDO), said recently.
“Both vaccines are now being rolled out across Africa to immunise more than six million children by the end of 2025. This is a huge step forward in the global fight against malaria and would not have been possible without a strong UK-India partnership,” she said.
On Thursday (26), to mark WHO's World Malaria Day, the FCDO announced that Sierra Leone, Liberia and Benin will begin their first rollout of the UK-Indian developed RTS,S vaccine, “marking a significant milestone in ending malaria”.
“Another success story in India-UK collaboration. The joint effort in developing and manufacturing two malaria vaccines,” the high commission of India in London said.
The UK is the largest sovereign donor to the core immunisation programme of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which is currently supporting the rollout of the RTS,S malaria vaccine.
A total of 22 countries are approved to roll out the vaccine, with Gavi aiming to immunise more than six million children from malaria by the end of 2025.
The only two WHO-approved malaria vaccines are developed by UK scientists at GSK and the University of Oxford and are now being manufactured at scale by Indian pharmaceutical companies.
The GSK vaccine RTS,S is being produced by Bharat Biotech, and the University of Oxford’s newer R21 vaccine, by the Serum Institute of India.
Findings from a major pilot study, which began in 2019 for rolling out RTS,S in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, has shown that 13 per cent more children are not dying from malaria in combination with other malaria interventions, according to UK ministers.
This week, the FCDO announced £7.4 million in funding from the UK to make malaria drugs and tests accessible to countries around the world.
The funding brings total UK support to MedAccess, which guarantees sales volumes of drugs in uncertain markets at affordable prices, to £17.4m to help one million people access new diagnostic tests and 120 million patients to receive anti-malarial treatments.
In three years, it is expected that more than 50 million people will have access to drugs and other items.
“Deaths from malaria are entirely preventable and the UK’s support for MedAccess will ensure that countries can afford to offer people the best protection against the disease,” said deputy foreign secretary and minister for development and Africa Andrew Mitchell.
(PTI)
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)