NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

In late February global vaccine experts and officials from across Africa gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to celebrate one of the region’s biggest public health achievements: virtually obliterating meningitis A off the continent.

For a century meningococcal meningitis has swept across 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, killing and disabling people and placing huge burdens on families and health care systems.

While vaccines were previously available, they were marred by myriad issues: they could only be used once an epidemic had started; they didn’t protect young children or infants; and they only provided short-term protection.