Annual meeting 2 and field visits
The second annual meeting of the EDCTP SMV Delivery project was again held in Conakry, Republic of Guinea, 22nd-23rd January 2026. This brought together researchers, health programme coordinators and other stakeholders to discuss progress with roll-out of national malaria vaccination programmes in Guinea and Mali, monitor ongoing implementation of the SMV Delivery project studies, prepare for the first round of seasonal malaria vaccine booster delivery, and strengthen collaboration across Africa and Europe.
Prior to the meeting itself, a field visit was made to the study areas in Mamou district in Guinea by members of the SMV Delivery consortium, accompanied by the coordinators of the Guinean Essential Program on Immunization (EPI, Dr. Daman Keita) and National Malaria Control Program (NMCP, Prof. Alioune Camara), as well as the Mamou regional inspector of health (Dr. Mamadou Houdy Bah). Their insights and experience were invaluable in appraising the study in the context of national malaria prevention and vaccination strategies. The team visited various health centres and health clinics and discussed with local staff about progress with malaria vaccine implementation and data collection, as well as plans for roll-out of booster doses. Daily operations were demonstrated, including use of health facility registration books and children’s health cards for recording vaccinations and malaria diagnoses. The team also spoke with community health workers and local community representatives.
This was followed by the two day meeting in Conakry itself, including presentations on national EPI and NMCP strategies in both Guinea and Mali, for which a delegation from Mali (Mr Bani Diaby, EPI and Dr. Aissata Koné, NMCP) joined. Study progress, preliminary results and future plans were presented by the consortium’s respective work package leaders or their representatives. There was also an online presentation by the EDCTP project officer, Dr Erika Gaspari, and a session with members of the project’s external advisory board.
Altogether, it was a very productive, inspiring and enjoyable meeting, which further fostered the SMV Delivery network and collaboration with stakeholders. Meeting with the local population and health staff gave an extra lift to the team’s motivation to identify optimal malaria vaccine booster implementation strategies for reducing the burden of malaria in Guinea, Mali and beyond.
First malaria vaccinations within SMV Delivery study cohorts
We are happy to announce that malaria vaccine roll outs by the Ministries of Health in Mali and Guinea were successful, and the first children of the SMV Delivery study cohorts were vaccinated with R21/Matrix-M in Mali in May 2025, and with RTS,S/AS01E in Guinea in September 2025! Both malaria vaccines are provided to children at the age of 5, 6 and 7 months (priming doses) and annually afterwards (booster doses). In our implementation study, we aim to determine the optimal approach to deliver these malaria vaccine boosters in seasonal transmission areas of Mali and Guinea. The first booster doses within our study cohort are planned for spring 2026.
Malaria vaccination with R21/Matrix-M in Mali.
(Photo shown with permission of parents attending vaccination clinic)
(Photo shown with permission of parents attending vaccination clinic)
Kick-off meeting
Malaria forms a major cause of hospital admissions and death among young children in many African countries. Recently, two effective malaria vaccines were approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), but they require booster doses to maintain protective immunity, and debate remains about the best way to implement malaria vaccine booster doses to achieve the highest efficacy, particularly in areas with seasonal malaria transmission. The SMV Delivery consortium brings together expert researchers in the field from Mali, Guinea, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Spain, to compare age-based boosting with seasonal boosting in Guinea, and to compare a seasonal mass community campaign with seasonal provision of boosters through routine childhood vaccination centers in Mali. The project’s results will provide an evidence-based optimal implementation strategy of malaria vaccine boosters in settings with seasonal transmission such as Guinea and Mali and thereby help reduce the burden of malaria in children in these countries.
The kick-off meeting of the EDCTP SMV Delivery project was organized from January 13 to 18, 2025, in Conakry, Republic of Guinea. The meeting was officially opened by his Excellency the Minister of Health and Public Hygiene of Guinea Dr. Oumar Diouhé Bah and attended by representatives of the Guinea and Mali Essential Programs on Immunisation and National Malaria Control Programs (Dr. Daman Keita and Prof. Alioune Camara from Guinea, and Mr Bani Diaby and Colonel Dr. Aissata Koné respectively), as well as amongst others principal investigator for Guinea Dr. Abdoul Habib Beavogui (Centre National de formation et de Recherche en Santé Rurale de Maferinyah, Guinea), project scientific coordinator Prof. Dr. Issaka Sagara (University of Science, Technique and Technologies of Bamako, Mali), consortium coordinator Dr. Matthew McCall (Radboudumc, The Netherlands) and work package leaders Prof. Dr. Daniel Chandramohan (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK) and Dr. Cristina Enguita (ISGlobal, Spain). The goal of this week was to discuss scientific and logistical plans for launch of the project and to visit various stakeholders in Guinea, including the Guinea Essential Program on Immunisation and National Malaria Control Program, as well as health facilities and public health representatives in areas where study activities in Guinea are currently being implemented. Altogether, it was a very successful meeting and provided a firm foundation for the launch of the project.
SMV Delivery project consortium and His Excellency the Minister of Health and Public Hygiene Dr. Oumar Diouhé Bah
