Vaccines ready for 50 million in Africa’s ‘Meningitis Belt’

A huge vaccination campaign to protect 50 million people against meningitis has been launched in seven African countries aiming to stamp out the deadly virus, health officials have said. The so-called ‘Meningitis Belt’ countries — Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan — are to get the jabs to ensure “a dramatic impact across the continent,” said Seth Berkley, managing director of GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation), the group backed by Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates. “We’ve known for a long time that there are terrible epidemics of meningitis every five to seven years in the ‘Meningitis Belt’,” Berkley told reporters in Geneva. “Nobody really understands why, but there are hundreds of thousands of cases, if not millions.” Meningitis can kill within 48 hours and cause brain damage, hearing loss or learning difficulties in 20 percent of sufferers, GAVI said. The vaccine, produced in association with the Serum Institute of India and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was previously used in Burkina Faso where it led to the eradication of the disease after a year, Berkley said. Just as important, he added, the lack of disease meant that economic development could continue in developing countries, whereas previous epidemics tended to stop trade in its tracks.

Update on Polio Eradication in Nigeria

UPDATE ON POLIO ERADICATION IN NIGERIA The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization was established by the Director-General of the World Health Organization in 1999 to provide guidance on the work of the WHO Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals Department. SAGE is the principal advisory group to WHO for vaccines and immunization. It is charged with advising WHO on overall global policies and strategies, ranging from vaccines and technology, research and development, to delivery of immunization and its linkages with other health interventions. SAGE is concerned not just with childhood vaccines and immunization, but all vaccine-preventable diseases.  The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on immunization (SAGE) met in the first week of November 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland. Among other topics relating to immunization, SAGE reviewed a detailed summary of the current status of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and impact of the national emergency action plans in the remaining three endemic countries. SAGE also discussed a draft of the polio endgame strategy, including an eventual switch from trivalent oral polio vaccine (OPV) to bivalent OPV, and the role inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) will play to minimise any risks associated with such a switch.  Also meeting this week in Geneva was the Polio Partners Group (PPG), including senior representatives from donor agencies, foundations and spearheading partners, to review current status of the global eradication effort, and issues relating to financing, including of the polio endgame. Opening the meeting, WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan highlighted the epidemiological opportunity of completing the job and its significant economic and humanitarian benefits, but also cautioned of the consequences of failure: “We know what is at stake if we do not get this job done. More than 250,000 people again paralysed by polio every year, including adults. Today, there are less than 200 new polio cases in the entire world. The prospect of not finishing polio eradication is unthinkable. That would be a humanitarian catastrophe that must be averted at all costs.” Nigeria  Two new WPV cases were reported in the past week (a WPV3 from Kano and a WPV1 from Katsina), bringing the total number of WPV cases for 2012 to 101. The case from Katsina is the most recent in the country (onset of paralysis on 15 October).  A special nomadic outreach strategy continues to be implemented. In priority Local Government Areas (LGAs) with high nomadic populations, activities are focusing on identifying settlements and population movements and ensure these are accurately reflected in microplans.  Based on the Dashboard Preparedness status, the November immunization plus days have been postponed from 10–13 November to 17–20 November. This will allow for completion of microplans revision in those LGAs that were in the second phase of revising their microplans.  In November, as part of efforts to strengthen routine immunization in the country, trainings will be held for WHO State Routine Immunization Focal Points. Source: http://www.polioeradication.org/Dataandmonitoring/Poliothisweek.aspx