Meningitis threatens 450 million in Africa

World Meningitis Day is April 24th. This is an opportunity to both raise awareness about the dangers of meningitis and build on progress that has been made against this dangerous threat.

Bacterial meningococcal meningitis threatens the lives of 450 million people across 26 countries in Africa’s meningitis belt. While effective vaccination programs have reduced the burden of some types of meningococcal meningitis, others continue to cause disease and epidemics in this region. Treatment is costly for both families and nations and contributes to the cycle of poverty. Each case of meningitis in a family results in a sudden cost of about 3 or 4 months of the family’s income. The permanent disabilities caused by meningitis leave survivors less able to care for themselves and less likely to earn income.