ONN Abuja 13/04/2024
Back to page 48 of the Renewed Hope manifesto, President Bola Tinubu pledged to work with local researchers to develop new vaccines in a bid to determine best approach to disease management within local context.
Fast forward to months after his inauguration and Nigeria has become the first country in the world to introduce vaccine against meningitis.
- Between October 2023 and March 2024, Nigeria recorded 1,742 suspected meningitis cases, including 101 confirmed cases and 153 deaths in seven states.
- Nigeria is one of the 26 meningitis hyper-endemic countries in Africa, as the continent recorded a 50 per cent jump in annual meningitis cases in 2023.
- While there existed vaccines used in the fight against meningitis before, Nigeria’s vaccine holds the potential to change the trajectory of the disease by preventing future outbreaks and saving many lives.
- This vaccine puts the country at the edge of eliminating the disease.
Congratulations to Nigeria on this new feat. The renewed hope agenda is surely working across all sectors.
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