The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended the rollout of a new malaria vaccine.
The new treatment was developed by the University of Oxford. There are already agreements in place to roll out 100 million doses a year.
The disease, which is spread by mosquitoes, kills hundreds of thousands of people every year.
The new vaccine will cost between R40 and R80 a dose. It is the second malaria vaccine approved by the WHO in recent years, but the newest vaccine is about half the price of the existing treatment.
Professor Sir Adrian Hill, the director of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford where the vaccine was developed, was quoted as saying: ‘The vaccine is easily deployable, cost effective and affordable, ready for distribution in areas where it is needed most, with the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives a year.’