By Hamu Madzedze
In a historic move Nigeria becomes the first country in the world to roll out a new vaccine for Meningitis called Men5CV which has been recommended by the World Health Organisation(WHO) to protect people against the five strains of the meningococcus bacteria.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Nigeria's roll out of the vaccine brings the world one step closer to eliminating Meningitis by 2030.
"Meningitis is an old and deadly foe and the new vaccine holds the potential to change the trajectory of the disease,preventing future outbreaks and saving many lives"said Dr Ghebreyesus.
An official from Nigeria's Ministry of Health and Social Welfare Professor Muhammad Ali Pate said the vaccine provides health workers with a tool to end the disease outbreak in Nigeria .
"We have done a lot of work preparing health workers and the health system for the roll out of this new vaccine and we will be monitoring progress closely and hopefully expanding immunisation in the coming months and years " said Professor Pate.
Nigeria is one of the 26 Meningitis hyper-endemic countries of Africa ,situated in area known as the African Meningitis Belt. 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.
Meningitis is a serious infection that leads to the inflammation of the membrane that surround and protects the brain and spinal cord.
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