WHO provides 1.2mln meningitis vaccine for Chad
April 19, 2011An official of the WHO said it is aware of similar meningitis outbreaks in several other African countries and has taken measures to control the disease.
Dr Stéphane Hugonnet of the department of outbreak, detection and response said the UN agency was working closely with the countries in the meningitis belt to support their response to the outbreaks.
The affected countries are reported to be Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Niger, DR Congo and Togo.
But Chad is worst hit by the outbreak, which started since January 1, according to the WHO official.
“Through the international coordinating group we shipped 1.2 million doses of vaccines in March in order to respond to the meningitis outbreak in Chad,” he said.
Responding to a question whether the vaccine being administered in Chad is the new conjugate MenAfriVac vaccine introduced in 2010 in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, Dr Hugonnet said no, but explained that there are plans in 2011 to extend the new vaccine to other areas.
“By the end of the year the rest of Mali and Niger will be vaccinated as well as part of northern Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon,” said Dr Hugonnet.
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