The World Health Organisation (WHO) predicts that, between now and 2030, about R25.5bn is needed to complete its regional plan to eradicate meningitis in Africa, which might save more than 140 000 lives and dramatically reduce disability in the region.
A strategy launched by the organisation last week charts a roadmap for countries to strengthen diagnosis, monitoring, care, advocacy and vaccination to eradicate outbreaks, reduce fatalities by 70%, and halve infections by 2030, reports News24.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, African countries were doing well in their drive to eradicate meningitis but now more than 400m people are at an increased risk of contracting the disease. Of those, 50m are children under 12.
This is because meningitis preventative and control systems, disease surveillance, laboratory confirmation of cases and outbreak investigations have all declined dramatically in the past two years.
Meningitis is caused by inflammation of the membranes that protect the brain and spinal cord and is spread through sneezing, saliva or phlegm from an infected person’s nose and throat. Acute bacterial meningitis is one of the most lethal and incapacitating forms of the disease, able to kill within 24 hours of infection and leaving one in every five infected people permanently disabled.
The meningitis season in Africa lasts from January to June.
COVID-19 disruption
The WHO said meningitis control activities were reduced by 50% in 2020 compared with 2019. Notably, Benin, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria and Togo delayed campaigns with the MenAfriVac vaccine.
"In prioritising the response to COVID-19, we must not lose our focus on other health problems. I urge countries to ramp up implementation of the new WHO regional roadmap now, before the meningitis season begins in January 2023,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.
Since 2010, more than 350m people in 24 high-risk African nations have received the MenAfriVac vaccine with the help of the WHO and partners.
“In 2019, 140 552 people in Africa died from all types of meningitis. Major outbreaks caused by meningitis type C have been recorded in seven meningitis belt countries since 2013,” the WHO said. The continent has the highest incidence of meningitis in the world, with 100 cases per 100 000 people.
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