Words for Change

Nigeria has recently become the first country in the world to introduce Men5CV, a WHO-approved vaccine that protects against five strains of the meningococcus bacteria. Since Nigeria is one of Africa’s 26 meningitis hyper-endemic countries, and given that the deadly Neissera meningitidis C outbreak led to 1742 suspected meningitis cases between 1 October 2023 and 11 March 2024 in the West African nation, there is certainly a pressing need for the vaccine in the country. That’s why Nigeria rolled out a vaccination campaign from 25 to 28 March, aiming initially to reach more than one million people. This may only be seen as a small step in a country with a population of over 230 million, but it’s a necessary step, nonetheless, as meningitis is a truly awful condition. It is a serious infection that causes the inflammation of the meninges, the membranes that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. The most common causes are viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic pathogens, and typical symptoms include headaches, fever and a stiff neck. The most dangerous form is bacterial meningitis, potentially resulting in septicaemia, or even the serious disablement or death of those who contract it within 24 hours. Therefore, this new vaccine offering protection against strains A, C, W, Y and X of the meningococcal bacteria is far more effective than the existing widely available vaccine in Africa, which only tackles strain A. This means that it’s also vital to achieving Nigeria’s goal of eliminating meningitis by 2030 — a goal that is shared worldwide following the launch in 2019 of the global roadmap to defeating meningitis by 2030. In October 2023, the WHO issued an official recommendation to countries to introduce the Men5CV vaccine, but as it’s only currently available for outbreak response efforts through the emergency stockpile of the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision, its mass roll-out across countries in Africa’s Meningitis Belt is not expected to start until 2025. And in Nigeria specifically, the WHO is also supporting the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC)’s response to the outbreak by stepping up disease surveillance, active case finding and sample testing, and facilitating case management. All these efforts are highly encouraging, so let’s hope that Nigeria manages to achieve its goal within the desired timeframe, as well as the rest of the world for that matter.   #internationaldevelopment #diseasecontrol #who

The entire Words for Change team commends every single person who has risked their life to contribute to humanitarian aid efforts in war-torn Gaza, especially as conditions are worsening on the ground, with crammed health facilities and an ever-increasing number of residents fleeing fighting and seeking refuge and food. Among these valiant efforts is the work of WHO teams, who have recently visited Al-Shifna Hospital in the north of the strip and Al-Amal Palestine Red Crescent Society in the south to deliver essential supplies and assess needs on the ground, where 50,000 and 14,000 people are sheltering, respectively. This work has been particularly important at the latter, having recently been hit by air strikes that disabled its radio tower and adversely affected its ambulance dispatch system, which serves more than 1.5 million people in the Khan Younis area. As a result, only 5 of the 9 ambulances that the hospital had remained functional. And given the ever-intensifying strain on health facilities in the south of Gaza owing to the mass displacement of people from further north in the strip, the international community must continue to provide aid and assistance to meet the needs of helpless civilians. #internationaldevelopment #gazacrisis #humanitarianaid