Cameroon began rolling out vaccines for malaria as part of its routine national vaccination regimen, the World Health Organization said. The RTS,S vaccine program — currently being rolled out in 42 health districts in Cameroon’s 10 regions — will target children aged six months as of Dec. 31, 2023, and come as malaria vaccination efforts in high-risk areas of Africa are being increased, according to the World Health Organization.

Cameroon received 331,200 doses of the vaccine in November 2023 with more expected in coming weeks. To prep for the launch, the WHO partnered with UNICEF, the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Clinton Health Access Initiative and GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance.

“The launch of the malaria vaccine marks a significant step in the prevention and control of the disease, especially in protecting children against severe disease and death,” Dr. Phanuel Habimana, the WHO’s Cameroon representative, said in a statement.

“We’re committed to supporting the national health authorities to ensure an effective rollout of the malaria vaccine together with scale up of other malaria control measures.” Malaria is the most widespread endemic disease in Cameroon and is responsible for 2.7 million reported cases, according to USAID. Of the 249 million malaria cases globally which lead to a reported 608,000 deaths in 2022, 77% were children under age five and mostly in Africa. Cameroon becomes the first country to roll out the vaccine that is not part of the WHO’s malaria vaccine pilot program, which includes Ghana, Kenya and Malawi.