Unlike cancer and HIV, meningitis gets death sentence

A healthy world would definitely be most welcome by everyone.

With the world troubled by diseases that severely affect human lives even to the point of death, some diseases have been lucky and some not so lucky to avoid the wrath of the human race.

Cancer and HIV/AIDS can be said to be lucky diseases.

As terrible as they are, and though they’ve been in existence for decades now, it seems they’ll continue to ravage humans as there’s really no solid talk of when they’ll be stamped out of existence.

Small pox and polio for instance haven’t been so lucky as they’ve been dealt a knockout punch such that they’re no longer a real threat.

Now, meningitis, which mercilessly kills hundreds of thousands of people every year, is the latest disease that’s about to face the full wrath of the World Health Organisation and its partners who’ve launched the first ever global strategy to defeat it so that by 2030, epidemics of bacterial meningitis - the most deadly form of the disease – would have been eliminated, deaths reduced by 70% and cases reduced by half which would result in more than 200,000 lives saved annually and also significantly reduce the disability it causes.

The strategy, the Global Roadmap to Defeat Meningitis by 2030, was launched by a broad coalition of partners involved in meningitis prevention and control at a virtual event hosted by WHO in Geneva. Its focus is on preventing infections and improving care and diagnosis for those affected.

“Wherever it occurs, meningitis can be deadly and debilitating. It strikes quickly, has serious health, economic and social consequences and causes devastating outbreaks. It’s time to tackle meningitis globally once and for all by urgently expanding access to existing tools like vaccines, spearheading new research and innovation to prevent it and detecting and treating the various causes of the disease and improving rehabilitation for those affected,” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO, said.

Meningitis, predominantly caused by infection with bacteria and viruses, is a dangerous inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord.

Meningitis caused by bacterial infection tends to be the most serious, leading to around 250,000 deaths a year, and can cause fast-spreading epidemics. It kills 1 in 10 of those infected, mostly children and young people and leaves 1 in 5 with long-lasting disability such as seizures, hearing and vision loss, neurological damage and cognitive impairment.

Over the last ten years, meningitis epidemics have occurred in all regions of the world, though most commonly in the Meningitis Belt which spans 26 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa. These epidemics are unpredictable, can severely disrupt health systems and create poverty, generating catastrophic expenditures for households and communities.

“More than half a billion Africans are at risk of seasonal meningitis outbreaks but the disease has been off the radar for too long. This shift away from firefighting outbreaks to strategic response can’t come soon enough. This roadmap will help protect the health and lives of hundreds of thousands of families who every year fear this disease,” Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said.

Several vaccines protect against meningitis, including meningococcal, Haemophilus influenzae type b and pneumococcal vaccines. However, not all communities have access to these lifesaving vaccines, and many countries are yet to introduce them into their national programmes.

While research is underway to develop vaccines for other causes of meningitis, such as Group B Strepbacteria, there remains an urgent need for innovation, funding and research to develop more meningitis-preventive vaccines. Efforts are also needed to strengthen early diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation for all those who need it after contracting the disease.

“This roadmap is the embodiment of the ambition of people and families affected around the world who have called for its creation. It's their experience and passion that has driven a whole community of interest to get this far,” said Vinny Smith, Chief Executive Officer of the Meningitis Research Foundation and the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO), an international membership organization of patient advocacy groups for meningitis. “We celebrate together the common goal of defeating meningitis and will be led by their inspiration to make it happen.”