Who Are We ?

Malaria Vaccine Pilot Evaluation-Case Control (MVPE-CC) is a collaborative project funded by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) that brings together a multidisciplinary consortium of leading African clinical trial centres in partnership with European and global institutions with complementary expertise and proven track record.

Why Are We Doing This ?

In 2019, the Ministries of Health in Malawi, Ghana and Kenya with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced on pilot basis the RTS,S malaria vaccine. The vaccine implementation is accompanied by an independent evaluation (Malaria Vaccine Pilot Evaluation), to assess the safety of RTS,S in routine use, the feasibility of reaching children with the recommended four-dose schedule, and the impact of the vaccine at population level to inform global policy recommendation.

Through the WHO-coordinated Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP) more than 700,000 children have been vaccinated in the three countries. The surveillance established for the MVIP provides an opportunity for case control studies to be conducted to address additional questions about vaccine impact, that cannot be answered directly through the cluster randomized design. Additionally, new data bring into question the importance of the 4th dose in the recommended schedule. The MVIP Programme Advisory Group recommended case-control studies, as a priority, to address these questions to inform policy. Data for the case-control studies will be collected as part of the ongoing Malaria Vaccine Pilot Evaluation.

Strategy (How Are We Doing This? What makes it Unique?)

Incidence-density case-control designs will be used with community controls recruited concurrently with cases, matched on date of birth and neighbourhood. This type of design allows the incidence rate ratio associated with the exposure (RTS,S vaccination) to be estimated.

Impact

The project will make important contributions to policy decisions about a potential wider use of the malaria vaccine in sub-Saharan Africa and will help maximize acceptability, uptake and impact, if recommended for use. The project also aims to promote, 1) use of case-control approaches by the Expanded Programme of Immunization (EPI) and malaria control programmes in high-burden countries, and 2) strengthening capacity by training malaria and immunizations programme managers in the use of case-control approaches to monitor and assess safety and effectiveness of malaria vaccines. A strong dissemination and communication plan has been planned to maximise potential impacts of this study and to raise of the project among target audience

Project MVPE-CC at a Glance

Timeline

The Malaria Vaccine Pilot Evaluation Case Control Project (MVPE-CC) began on April 1, 2021, and it will end on December, 2024.

Coordinator

Kintampo Health Research Center
(Dr.Kwaku Poku Asante)

Funder

European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) is funding this study

Funding (Euro)

3,210,118.75

Keywords

Malaria, Vaccines, Case-Control study, Safety, Effectiveness, Stakeholder engagement

Malaria Vaccine Pilot Evaluation Case Control Study (MVPE-CC) Investigators’ Meeting 2-5 September, 2024

The MVPE-CC consortium held its Investigators meeting ..

Ghana MVPE team participates in World Health Organization (WHO) organized Malaria Vaccine Pilot Evaluation (MVPE) Writing and Analysis Meeting on Feasibility of Malaria Vaccine Introduction in Accra, April 2024

From 15-19 April 2024, a team from WHO headquarters (hqrs) in Geneva..

EDCTP Visits Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC)

On October 2, 2023, KHRC received a visit from the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), funders of the ongoing Malaria Vaccine Pilot Evaluation- Case Control studies (MVEP-CC) in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi.

Staff of the Malaria Vaccine Pilot Evaluation-Case Control (MVPE-CC) study had a refresher training on 26th May, 2023.

The MVPE-CC Ethics Advisor (Dr Abraham Hodgson) completed field monitoring visit to Malawi from 7 – 10 March..

This project is part of the
EDCTP2 Programme supported by the European Union (RIA2020S-3310 – MVPE-CC)