Pressroom

Source: Health 24

10/04/2012

GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, has launched a mass vaccination campaign in seven countries that make up Africa’s so-called “Meningitis Belt.” The three-month effort—which aims to reach 50 million people—will take place in Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan. Seth Berkley, managing director of GAVI, said the initiative is working to ensure “a dramatic impact across the continent.” He said, “We’ve known for a long time that there are terrible epidemics of meningitis every five to seven years in the ‘Meningitis Belt.’ Nobody really understands why, but there are hundreds of thousands of cases, if not millions.” The effort is part of a greater plan to reach 26 countries in Africa with the vaccine, GAVI said.