Towards an African Region free of meningitis epidemics by 2030: progress, challenges and way forward
André Arsène Bita Fouda1
1World Health Organization, Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo,
&Corresponding author
André Arsène Bita Fouda, World Health Organization, Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
Abstract
Introduction: meningitis disease remains a major public health problem in the African meningitis belt. The objective of the study was to describe the epidemiological situation of meningitis disease and control measures implemented from 2010 to 2025 in Africa.
Methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted from 2010 to 2025. Number of cases, deaths, case fatality rates, epidemics, pathogens, immunization coverage were collected from datasets of the World Health Organization and countries.
Results: from 2010 to 2025 the number of suspected meningitis cases decreased from 30,103 to 26,010 and case fatality rate decreased from 10.8% to 5.3%. From 2011 to 2025, twelve (12) countries of the African meningitis belt experienced bacterial meningitis epidemics and Nigeria and Niger the most affected. The predominant pathogens found were N. meningitidis serogroups C, W and S. pneumoniae. From 2010 to 2025, MenACV have been rolled out in 24 of the 26 countries in the African meningitis belt. Over 400 million persons aged 9 months to 29 years old have been vaccinated with MenACV and over 20 million with Men5CV. To implement the framework to defeat meningitis by 2030 that envisions Africa free of meningitis, landscape risk analysis conducted in 2021 resulted in 13 countries at high risk, 25 at medium risk and nine at low risk.
Conclusion: the MenACV and Men5CV rollout led to the dramatic reduction of meningitis cases and deaths, and elimination of meningitis caused by N. meningitidis A. However, to eliminate bacterial meningitis epidemics countries should continue to implement and monitor plans to defeat meningitis by 2030.