Nigeria has become the first country in the world to roll out the “revolutionary” new Men5CV vaccine against meningitis, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. Nigeria is one of the hotspots of the deadly disease in Africa. Last year, a 50% rise in annual cases was reported across 26 African countries regarded as meningitis hyperendemic countries, according to the WHO.
“Nigeria’s rollout brings us one step closer to our goal to eliminate meningitis by 2023,” Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General, was quoted as saying in a statement. 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. 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, while roll-out through mass preventive campaigns is expected to start in 2025 across countries of the Meningitis Belt.—Agencies
