GAVI commits $100 million to fight meningitis A

The GAVI Alliance has committed $100 million to help tackle meningitis A in Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria, part of a strategy to save tens of thousands of lives in Africa with a new life-saving vaccine, MenAfriVac.

Hit frequently by epidemics, Africa’s “meningitis belt” consists of 25 countries stretching from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east. A 1996/97 epidemic hit 250,000 people, of whom 25,000 died and 50,000 were left with varying forms of disability.

Developed at around 50 cents per dose, the new single-dose vaccine specifically addresses group A meningococcal meningitis.