The Optimizing Malaria Vaccine Uptake (OPT-MVAC) initiative is a four-year project spanning 14 countries in West and Central Africa. It builds on a strong foundation of regional collaboration in implementation research for seasonal malaria control.
OPT-MVAC aims to optimize the delivery and uptake of malaria vaccines in areas with highly seasonal malaria transmission. It also leverages the introduction of the malaria vaccine as an opportunity to strengthen immunization programmes, thereby further reducing infant and child mortality rates.
OPT-MVAC is a partnership across 14 countries in West and Central Africa – bringing together immunization programmes (EPIs), national malaria control programmes (NMCPs) and pharmacovigilance programmes – and 8 African and European public health institutions.
This project is led by Professor Jean Louis Ndiaye, University of Thies, Senegal, and Michel Vaillant, Luxembourg Health Institute. Technical support is provided by the London School of Hygiene&Tropical Medicine (LSHTM); the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases at WHO (TDR); the Rabat Centre for Strengthening Pharmacovigilance Practices in Morocco ; the Department of Public Health at the University Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegal; the European Vaccine Initiative (EVI-Germany) and the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV-Switzerland).
The project is funded primarily by EDCTP, with additional funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Access and Delivery Partnership (ADP), and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).
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Building on the success of the OPT-SMC network on seasonal malaria chemoprevention, the OPT-MVAC initiative applies implementation research to enhance the introduction and integration of malaria vaccines, scale effective strategies and strengthen health systems to reduce the burden of malaria in areas with highly seasonal malaria transmission.
Implementation research topics across the participating countries include:
-Developing and testing context-specific strategies to improve vaccine uptake, tailored to local needs and health system capacities
-Evaluating the effectiveness of these strategies, integrating them into routine systems, and monitoring progress over time
-Sharing evidence-based practices and lessons learned across participating countries to ensure harmonized and effective implementation
OPT-MVAC is funded by the Global Health European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership 3 (Global Health EDCTP3) Joint Undertaking, the European Union, the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Access and Delivery Partnership (ADP).