Expats in Cameroon

  Cameroon on Monday launched the first malaria vaccination programme to be offered nationwide and as a matter of routine, AFP journalists saw, in a step the WHO has described as "historic". The mosquito-borne disease kills more than 600,000 people a year, mainly in Africa, according to the World Health Organization. Children under five years old account for more than 80 percent of deaths on the continent. Following a pilot phase, the RTS,S vaccine is being rolled out at scale across Africa, starting in Cameroon. At a hospital in the town of Soa, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the capital Yaounde, six-month-old Noah Ngah became the first to receive the injection at the facility. Cheered and encouraged by the nurses, the infant received the jab -- much to the relief of his mother, who was waiting to have his twin sister vaccinated too. "Some parents are reticent but I know that vaccines are good for children," their mother Helene Akono told AFP. It is one of many vacc