The World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed a strategy to end meningitis by 2030.
The Global Roadmap to Defeat Meningitis by 2030 strategy targets eliminating the outbreak of bacterial meningitis. If the strategy is successful over 200,000 lives could be saved annually while deaths caused by meningitis will be reduced by 70 percent.
Part of the steps to be prioritised are widespread immunisation coverage, the development of new affordable vaccines, and upgraded prevention strategies and response to outbreaks.
Also, speedy diagnosis and optimal treatment for patients will be ameliorated.
The announcement came after the World Health Assembly passed a resolution on how to tackle the disease, which was unanimously approved by WHO member states last year.
Statistics reveal that meningitis kills around 250,000 people a year globally, which means that one in every ten infected people, mostly children, and teenagers.
Though many vaccines against meningitis have been developed, many people in nations that have witnessed cases of the disease do not have access to the vaccine and other countries have not introduced the vaccine into their national health programmes.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “It is 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, detect and treat the various causes of the disease, and improving rehabilitation for those affected.”
