World Malaria Day webinar sounds the alarm against cutting funds for lifesaving vaccinations
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is working to save the lives of the 600,000 people who die from malaria each year, most of them children under 5
LOUISVILLE — The Presbyterian Malaria Vaccine Advocacy Team heard from African physicians and others on World Malaria Day Friday during a webinar designed to raise awareness of the effectiveness of a pair of new malaria vaccines and the threat that reduced aid — particularly from the United States — poses to African nations, the home of most of the 600,000 people who die of the disease each year, most of them children under 5.
The PC(USA)’s Office of Public Witness and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations were also part of Friday’s informative webinar, attended by nearly 60 people.
The webinar opened with Dr. Mwawi Chilongozi, General Secretary of the Church of Central African Presbyterian, offering a meditation on Isaish 38:1 and 21 and John 9:1, and 6-7. Both are stories of healing. “It is faith and the use of available means for recovery,” Chilongozi said. “In Africa, there are misconceptions regarding vaccines. Some parents don’t give them to their children because of religious beliefs,” but Presbyterian congregations in Africa “advocate and teach people about the importance of getting vaccines. These are important ways God uses to cure and prevent sicknesses such as malaria.”
“As we reflect on God’s healing and restoration power,” Chilongozi said, “may we continue to trust God in the different ways God uses to bring about healing from diseases. Amen.”
Dr. Serge Makolo, director of the Mulami Muimpe Eye Clinic in Kananga, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Dr. Nyaah Fidelis, Health Service Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, gave perspectives from their respective countries.
Eleven countries bear about two-thirds of the world’s malaria burden, Makolo said. More than 9 in 10 malaria cases are in Africa. The African nations that suffer the most malaria are Nigeria, the DRC, Uganda, Ethiopia and Mozambique.
“Malaria can destabilize family livelihoods, perpetuating poverty in communities,” Makolo said. The disease impacts children’s education, leading to long-term poverty cycles.
The World Health Organization has approved a pair of vaccines, Makolo noted. In Cameroon, a pilot phase of one of the vaccines began in September 2024, Fidelis noted. By now, most children in the pilot program have received their third dose. But health workers cannot fully measure the vaccine’s impact until the fourth doses have be administered.
The challenges for health care workers and others are numerous, including maintaining the cold chain in storing the vaccine and countering anti-vaccine propaganda spread via social media.
Fidelis said faith leaders in Cameroon are taking to their pulpits to counteract online misinformation. “This has greatly improved acceptances and uptake of the vaccine by the population,” Fidelis said. “We utilize pastors to make a witness to the population.”
Health care workers have also made inroads utilizing solar-powered refrigerators, but it’s not enough, Fidelis said, adding, “Sometimes we stock ice when power is available, then transfer the vaccines into cold flasks with ice blocks when the power goes off.”
Despite so many children not having received the crucial fourth dose, “We have noted a great reduction in malaria-related hospitalization among children in the districts involved,” Fidelis said. “The need to continue funding to ensure the availability of the malaria vaccine is paramount.”
Dr. Larry Sthreshley, a former PC(USA) mission co-worker who now directs Durable Solutions Congo, spoke on behalf of an official from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which has immunized a billion children around the world, saving 18 million lives. Over the next five years, Gavi aims to protect another 500 million children. Countries are investing $4 billion in their own vaccination programs.
“Gavi is a very important program,” Sthreshley said. “I have been on the receiving end for 15 years, getting funding to work with civil society.” The supply of the vaccines “is sufficient to meet demand,” and Gavi “has quickly produced the vaccine.”
But political decisions are impacting Gavi’s funding. The United States promised $2.5 billion over the next five years, “but there is talk of cutting the Gavi funding,” Sthreshley said. The vaccines are “probably the most effective way of addressing malaria, one of the biggest killers in this part of the world.”
Catherine Gordon, representative for international issues at the PC(USA)’s Office of Public Witness, and Sue Rheem, representative to the United Nations for the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations, provided additional information on proposed funding cuts and helped those on the call learn more about engaging in advocacy.
“Our advocacy is very powerful when we can join together as the PC(USA) and speak as one voice,” Gordon said. “It’s even more powerful when we can work ecumenically.”
Rheem noted that PMUN’s accreditation gives the office access to UN ambassadors. “The work on the ground is important to our church partners,” Rheem said. “We relay that information to decision-makers.”
“It’s so important for Presbyterians in the pews to make their voices heard,” Gordon said. They can use OPW’s Action Alerts to contact their elected officials on matters that are important to them, and they can learn additional techniques through the Presbyterian Advocacy Hour, which is offered online each month.
Presbyterians can also propose overtures to the General Assembly, Rheem said. “There are lots of advocacy tools available,” she said, including engaging in public education, building alliances, holding demonstrations and vigils, lobbying legislators and making solidarity visits.
Cuts to U.S. aid for malaria vaccines have been announced, Gordon said, but they aren’t final yet, and “there is still time to make your voice heard.”
The United Nations “is actively involved in the malaria vaccine program” through the WHO, UNICEF and Gavi, Rheem said. “Despite the cuts, the work goes on,” she said.
Go here to send an Action Alert to your elected officials to restore lifesaving foreign aid and fully fund international assistance during the coming fiscal year.
You may freely reuse and distribute this article in its entirety for non-commercial purposes in any medium. Please include author attribution, photography credits, and a link to the original article. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDeratives 4.0 International License.
