Health
Nigeria First to Introduce New 5-in-1 Vaccine Against Meningitis – WHO
Nigeria has become the first country in the world to roll out a new vaccine – Men5CV – recommended by World Health Organisation(WHO), to protect people against meningitis.
The world health body, in a statement on Friday, said that the vaccine would protect people against five strains of meningococcus bacteria, and described Nigeria’s feat as historic.
It said that health workers would begin an immunisation campaign aimed at reaching one million people.
The statement said that the vaccine and emergency vaccination activities are funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which funds the global meningitis vaccine stockpile and supports lower-income countries with routine vaccination against meningitis.
According to the WHO, Nigeria is one of the 26 meningitis hyper-endemic countries of Africa, situated in the area known as the African Meningitis Belt.
It noted that in 2023, there was a 50 per cent jump in annual meningitis cases reported across Africa.
“In Nigeria, an outbreak of Neisseria meningitidis (meningococcus) serogroup C outbreak, led to 1,742 suspected meningitis cases, including 101 confirmed cases and 153 deaths in seven of 36 Nigerian state, between October 2023 and March 2024.
The states are Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Katsina, Yobe, Zamfara.
“To quell the deadly outbreak, a vaccination campaign was undertaken on 25–28 March 2024 to initially reach more than one million people aged 1-29 years,” it said.
The statement noted that meningitis was a serious infection that leads to the inflammation of the membranes (meninges), that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord.
“There are multiple causes of meningitis, including viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic pathogens.
“Symptoms often include headache, fever and stiff neck. Bacterial meningitis is the most serious, and can also result in septicaemia (blood poisoning). It can seriously disable or kill within 24 hours,” the statement added.
It quoted Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, as saying that meningitis was an old and deadly foe, adding that the new vaccine holds the potential to change the trajectory of the disease, preventing future outbreaks and saving many lives
“Nigeria’s rollout brings us one step closer to our goal of eliminating meningitis by 2030,” Ghebreyesus said.
He said that the revolutionary new vaccine offers a powerful shield against the five major strains of the meningococcal bacteria – A, C, W, Y and X – in a single shot.
All five strains cause meningitis and blood poisoning.
According to him, this provides broader protection than the current vaccine used in much of Africa, which is only effective against the A strain.
He said that the new vaccine has the potential to significantly reduce meningitis cases and advance progress in defeating meningitis.
“This is especially important for countries like Nigeria where multiple serogroups are prevalent.
“The new vaccine uses the same technology as the meningitis A conjugate vaccine (MenAfriVac®), which wiped out meningococcal A epidemics in Nigeria,” the WHO boss said.
The statement quoted Prof. Muhammad Pate, Nigeria’s Minister of Health and Social Welfare, as saying that Northern Nigeria, particularly the states of Jigawa, Bauchi and Yobe, were badly hit by the deadly outbreak of meningitis.
“This vaccine provides health workers with a new tool to both stop this outbreak and also put the country on a path to elimination,” Pate said.
According to him, Nigeria has done a lot of work preparing health workers and the health system for the rollout of the new vaccine.
“We got an invaluable support from our populations in spite of the fasting period, and from our community leaders, especially the Emir of Gumel in Jigawa, who personally launched the vaccination campaign in the state.
“We’ll be monitoring progress closely and hopefully expand the immunisation in the coming months and years to accelerate progress,” he said.
The minister said that the new multivalent conjugate vaccine took 13 years of efforts and was based on a partnership between PATH and the Serum Institute of India.
“Financing from the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was critical to its development,” he said.
Pate said that in July 2023, WHO prequalified the new Men5CV vaccine (which has brand name MenFive®), and in October 2023 issued an official recommendation to countries to introduce the new vaccine.
According to him, Gavi allocated resources for the Men5CV rollout in December 2023, which is currently available for outbreak response through the emergency stockpile managed by the International Coordinating Group (ICG), on Vaccine Provision.
He added that the roll-out, through mass preventive campaigns, was expected to start in 2025 across countries of the Meningitis Belt.
Mr Andrew Mitchell, UK Minister for Development and Africa, was also quoted as saying that the rollout of one million vaccines in northern Nigeria would help save lives, prevent long-term illness and boost the goal of defeating meningitis globally by 2030.
“This is exactly the kind of scientific innovation, supported by the UK, which I hope is replicated in years to come, to help us drive further breakthroughs, including wiping out other diseases,” Mitchell said.
He said that WHO has been supporting the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), in responding to the meningitis outbreak in the country.
According to him, the areas of support include disease surveillance, active case finding, sample testing and case management.
“WHO and partners have also played a vital role in supporting Nigeria to prepare for the rollout of the new vaccine and training health workers,” he said.
Dr Nanthalile Mugala, PATH’s Chief of Africa Region, was also quoted as saying that meningococcal meningitis had tormented countries across Africa, year after year.
“The introduction of MenFive® in Nigeria heralds a transformative era in the fight against meningococcal meningitis in Africa.
“Building on the legacy of previous vaccination efforts, this milestone reflects over a decade of unwavering, innovative partnerships.
“The promise of MenFive® lies not just in its immediate impact but in the countless lives it stands to protect in the years to come, moving us closer to a future free from the threat of this disease,” Mugala said.
According to her, in 2019, WHO and partners launched the global roadmap to defeating meningitis by 2030.
“The roadmap sets a comprehensive vision towards a world free of meningitis, and has three goals including the elimination of bacterial meningitis epidemics.
Another goal is the reduction of cases of vaccine-preventable bacterial meningitis by 50 per cent and deaths by 70 per cent, as well as the reduction of disability and improvement of quality of life after meningitis, due to any cause.
Ms Aurélia Nguyen, Chief Programme Officer at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, was also quoted as saying that with outbreaks of infectious diseases on the rise worldwide, new innovations such as MenFive® were critical in helping the fight back.
She said that Vaccine Alliance funds the global stockpile as well as vaccine rollout in lower-income countries.
“This first shipment signals the start of Gavi support for a multivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MMCV) programme which, with the required donor funding for our next five years of work, will see pentavalent meningococcal conjugate vaccines rolled out in high-risk countries.
“Thanks to vaccines, we have eliminated large and disruptive outbreaks of meningitis A in Africa, now we have a tool to respond to other serogroups that still cause large outbreaks resulting in long-term disability and deaths,” Nguyen said.
According to her, following Nigeria’s meningitis vaccine campaign, a major milestone on the road to defeat meningitis is the international summit on meningitis taking place in Paris in April 2024, where leaders will celebrate progress, identify challenges and assess next steps.
“It is also an opportunity for country leaders and key partners to commit, politically and financially, to accelerate progress towards eliminating meningitis as a public health problem by 2030,” she said.(NAN)
By Ubong Ukpong, Abuja
Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria (APN) President, Prof. Taiwo James Obindo, has asked for the decriminalization of attempted suicide in the country.
He made the call at a stakeholders meeting organized by the House of Representatives Committee on Specialty Healthcare on the need to prioritize and implement the Mental Health Act.
Obindo said the establishment of the National Counselling Centers all over the country in an attempt to address mental health was like putting the cart before the horse, because suicide attempt was still a criminal offense in both the Criminal Act and the Penal Code.
“Hence the first step would be a move to decriminalize attempted suicide.
Criminalizing attempted Suicide has proven to be a major barrier for suicide prevention intervention service uptake.“The archaic law, inherited from our Colonial masters, in an attempt to stop the act of suicide did not address the thoughts and social determinants of Suicide. Significant evidence showed that 90% of those who take their lives through suicide had a background history of Mental Health Conditions; out of which 80% are attributable to Depression due to various bio-psycho-social aetiologies.
“Why do we, as a Nation, then punish individuals who are ill and need medical attention rather than prosecution? It will shock you to know that Nigeria, the giant of Africa, is lagging behind as quite a number of our neighbouring nations have abrogated that law.
“Establishing a Counselling center, without abrogating this archaic law would put, even the counselors at risk because the law also prescribes penalties for those who are aware of the plan but did not report,” he said.
The psychiatrists Association President called for the implementation of the Mental Health Act, which he said was a product of legislation that went through rigorous processes by the legislature, assented to by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2022, and has been gazetted as a law in the Country.
This, he said, would address the “many years of neglect of this important aspect of our nationhood.”
Obindo said a requirement for the effective implementation of the Act was the establishment of a Mental Health Services Department in the Federal Ministry of Health.
“It will shock you to hear that, more than a year later, the department is yet to be established. Most of, if not all, the items in your plan are meant to be supervised by this department in obedience to the rule of law! Hence, the establishment of the department is germane to the success of all your plans,” he said.
He said the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria was an umbrella body of all Psychiatrists in the Country and other allied Practitioners.
He said they have been at the forefront of campaigns and advocacy for global best practices.
He lauded the Committee for the initiative, saying when well-implemented, would positively impact the hitherto neglected Mental Health, persons affected by Mental Health Conditions, and Mental Health Practitioners.
Chairman of the Committee on Special Healthcare, Dr Alex Egbona, said all stakeholders must partner to address mental health challenges and other related health cases.
The lawmaker said the committee was created to provide the requisite legislative frameworks for improved healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
He said the session was a collaborative initiative of the committee to share its mandate and planned activities with identified relevant institutions and organisations.
“I, therefore, solicit the support and partnership of all stakeholders, our development partners, international NGOs, and CSOs, you are all urged to take interest in building the capacity of the committee members and staff to enhance the efficacy of the committee.
“Consider our five thematic areas of Mental Health, Trauma and Obstetrics Fistula, Oral Health and ENT, Blood Transfusion, Blood and Management, Traditional Complementary and Alternative Medicine and engage the committee for maximum impact,” he said.
25,318 suspected cases of monkey pox, including 1,204 deaths, have been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since the declaration of monkey pox outbreak in December 2022.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday.
According to the latest report, the outbreak, which was declared by the DRC Health Ministry on Dec.
16, 2022, was prompted by a notable surge in cases and fatalities associated with monkey pox as well as a fast spread to non-endemic provinces.Since the beginning of 2024, a total of 5,133 suspected cases, including 321 deaths, have been reported, according to the WHO report. It warns that the current situation of the outbreak in the DRC is of “grave concern” due to the sustained increase in suspected cases compared to previous years.
It added that with a significant burden in younger populations, particularly children under 15 years of age, who constitute the majority of both suspected cases and deaths.
In April 2024, a high-level emergency regional meeting on monkey pox in Africa was convened in DRC capital Kinshasa, gathering 12 health ministers of regional countries, aiming to develop common strategies to prevent and intervene effectively in the face of monkey pox in Africa.
“We must prevent the DRC from becoming the source of cross-border transmission, and our partnership must prioritise the health of those affected,’’ said Jean Kaseya, the director general of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) at the meeting.
“Over the years, monkey pox has become a real public health problem for our communities in the DRC, a regional threat and ultimately a global problem.
“We must now mobilise to resolve this crisis,” said Roger Kamba, DRC minister of public health, hygiene and prevention, said at the meeting.
Monkey pox, first detected in laboratory monkeys in 1958, is assumed to be transmitted from wild animals such as rodents to people or from human to human (Xinhua/NAN)
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned of dire consequences if Israel goes ahead with an impending military operation in Rafah.
The planned push into the southern border city of Rafah would lead to “a bloodbath,” the organization wrote on X, formerly twitter on Saturday
The WHO said that more than 1.
2 million people were currently sheltering in the area, many unable to move anywhere else.“A new wave of displacement would exacerbate overcrowding, further limiting access to food, water, health and sanitation services, leading to increased disease outbreaks, worsening levels of hunger, and additional loss of lives.
”According to the WHO, only 33 per cent of Gaza’s 36 hospitals and 30 per cent of primary health care Centre’s were functional in some capacity amid repeated attacks and shortages of vital medical supplies, fuel, and staff.
WHO calls for an immediate and lasting ceasefire and the removal of the obstacles to the delivery of urgent humanitarian assistance into and across Gaza, at the scale that is required.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu is determined to launch an offensive in Rafah to eliminate the remaining strongholds of Hamas.
The organisation said that although Israel’s allies have repeatedly urged caution, as a large majority of the approximately 2.2 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip have fled to the south during the war. (dpa/NAN)
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