hands hold a malaria vaccine
In this file photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019, health officials prepare to vaccine residents of the Malawi village of Tomali, where young children become test subjects for the world's first vaccine against malaria.
AP Photo/Jerome Delay
  • The World Health Organization on Wednesday recommended the "world's first" malaria vaccine.
  • The approval is based on results from an ongoing campaign in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi.
  • Malaria kills about 400,000 people a year, nearly all of them living in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday recommended the "world's first" malaria vaccine.

"This long-awaited #malaria vaccine is a breakthrough for science, child health and malaria control. Using this vaccine in addition to existing tools to prevent malaria could save tens of thousands of young lives each year," WHO's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, according to a tweet from the international organization.

The approval is based on results from an ongoing campaign in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi that vaccinated more than 800,000 children in the last two years, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Malaria kills about 400,000 people a year, nearly all of them living in sub-Saharan Africa.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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