Nigeria launches a new five-in-one meningitis vaccine, a first for the world.
A one million person immunization campaign is launched by health professionals.

ANNOUNCEMENT • APRIL 12, 2024
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Youngsters getting vaccinations are used to tell the story.
Nigeria has made history by being the first nation to implement Men5CV, a new vaccine that the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended to protect people against five different strains of the meningococcus bacteria. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, provides funding for both the vaccine and emergency vaccination efforts. It also maintains the world’s meningitis vaccine stockpile and assists lower-income nations with regular meningitis vaccination programs.

Situated in the African Meningitis Belt, Nigeria is one of the 26 countries in Africa where meningitis is hyper-endemic. Africa saw a 50% increase in the number of meningitis cases reported annually last year.

In seven of the 36 states of Nigeria (Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Katsina, Yobe, and Zamfara), there was an outbreak of Neisseria meningitidis (meningococcus) serogroup C that resulted in 1742 suspected cases of meningitis, 101 confirmed cases, and 153 fatalities. The outbreak occurred between October 1, 2023, and March 11, 2024. A vaccination campaign has been launched on March 25–28, 2024, with the initial goal of reaching over one million people aged 1-29 in order to contain the deadly outbreak.

A dangerous infection called meningitis causes inflammation of the meninges, which are membranes that encircle and shield the brain and spinal cord. Meningitis can be caused by bacterial, fungal, viral, or parasitic pathogens, among other things. Frequent symptoms include fever, headaches, and stiff necks. The most dangerous kind of meningitis is bacterial meningitis, which can cause septicemia, or blood poisoning, and fatally affect victims in as little as 24 hours.

The WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated, “Meningitis is an old and deadly foe, but this new vaccine holds the potential to change the trajectory of the disease, preventing future outbreaks and saving many lives.” “The implementation in Nigeria moves us one step closer to our 2030 target of eradicating meningitis.”

With just one dose, the ground-breaking new vaccine provides a potent defense against the five main meningococcal bacterial strains (A, C, W, Y, and X). Meningitis and blood poisoning are caused by all five strains. Compared to the current vaccine, which is only effective against the A strain and is used throughout much of Africa, this offers broader protection.

The novel vaccine could lead to a notable decrease in meningitis cases and progress in the fight against meningitis. Given the prevalence of multiple serogroups in nations like Nigeria, this is particularly crucial. The meningitis A conjugate vaccine (MenAfriVac®), which eradicated meningococcal A outbreaks in Nigeria, is the source of the vaccine’s technology.

Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate of the Nigerian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare stated, “This vaccine gives health workers a new tool to both stop this outbreak and put the country on a path to elimination.” Northern Nigeria, in particular the states of Jigawa, Bauchi, and Yobe, were severely affected by the deadly meningitis outbreak. “A great deal of work has gone into preparing medical professionals and the healthcare system for the introduction of this new vaccine. Despite the fasting period, we received tremendous support from the people in our community, particularly the Emir of Gumel in Jigawa State, who personally started the state’s immunization campaign. We’ll be keeping a close eye on developments and intend to expand the vaccination program in the near future.

“With this vaccination, health workers have a new tool to both stop this outbreak and put the country on a path to elimination,” said Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Nigeria. The meningitis outbreak that killed many had a severe impact on the states of Jigawa, Bauchi, and Yobe in northern Nigeria. “A lot of effort has been put into getting the healthcare system and medical community ready for the launch of this new vaccine. The people in our community, especially the Emir of Gumel in Jigawa State, who personally launched the state’s immunization campaign, provided us with amazing support throughout the fasting period. We’ll be closely monitoring any updates, and we plan to grow the immunization program soon.

The WHO prequalified the MenFive® vaccine in July 2023, and in October 2023, the organization formally recommended that nations implement the new vaccine. While the International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision is currently managing an emergency stockpile for outbreak response, Gavi allocated resources for the Men5CV rollout in December 2023. The Meningitis Belt countries are expected to begin rolling out mass preventive campaigns in 2025.

According to UK Minister for Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell, “the rollout of one million vaccines in northern Nigeria will help save lives, prevent long-term illness and boost our goal of defeating meningitis globally by 2030.” “I hope that this exact type of UK-supported scientific innovation is repeated in the coming years to help us drive further breakthroughs, including wiping out other diseases.”

In order to combat the meningitis outbreak in the nation, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has received assistance from WHO. This covers case management, sample testing, active case finding, and disease surveillance. In addition, WHO and its partners have been instrumental in helping Nigeria get ready for the new vaccine’s introduction and in providing training for medical professionals.

Meningococcal meningitis has plagued nations throughout Africa year after year, according to Dr. Nanthalile Mugala, PATH’s Chief of the Africa Region. “A revolutionary era in the fight against meningococcal meningitis in Africa begins with the introduction of MenFive® in Nigeria. This significant achievement represents more than ten years of steadfast, creative collaborations, building on the heritage of earlier immunization campaigns. MenFive® holds great promise not only for its immediate effects but also for the innumerable lives it will safeguard in the years to come, bringing us one step closer to a day when this disease will no longer be a threat.

2019 saw the release of the global roadmap to eradicate meningitis by 2030 by WHO and its partners. The roadmap outlines three objectives and provides a comprehensive vision for a world free of meningitis:

The eradication of bacterial meningitis outbreaks; a 50% reduction in vaccine-preventable cases of meningitis and a 70% reduction in fatalities; a decrease in disability and an improvement in quality of life following meningitis from any cause.

“New innovations like MenFive® are critical in helping us fight back, with outbreaks of infectious diseases on the rise worldwide,” stated Aurélia Nguyen, Chief Programme Officer of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which provides funding for both the global vaccine stockpile and the distribution of vaccines in lower-income nations. “With the necessary donor funding for our next five years of work, this first shipment signals the start of Gavi support for a multivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MMCV) program, which will see pentavalent meningococcal conjugate vaccines rolled out in high-risk countries. Thanks to vaccinations, meningitis A outbreaks of significant size have been eradicated in Africa. This means that we now have a tool to combat other serogroups that still cause large outbreaks that cause deaths and long-term disability.

An important turning point in the fight against meningitis will be Nigeria’s meningitis vaccine campaign and the international meningitis summit in Paris in April 2024, where world leaders will convene to acknowledge achievements, pinpoint obstacles, and determine future course of action. Leaders of the nation and important allies have the chance to pledge politically and monetarily to quicken the process of eradicating meningitis as a public health issue by 2030.