Tamalé, 9 October, 2012 -- About 2,999,293 Ghanaians aged between one and twenty-nine years including pregnant women and lactating mothers within the age brackets are to be immunized from 9-18 October, 2012 against Meningococcal type “A” also known as Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) in a vast campaign involving the three northern regions of Ghana which include Northern region, Upper East and Upper West. The vaccination is free of charge to the public and will take the form of an injection.

According to the WHO Representative in Ghana, Dr Idrissa SOW, these three northern regions of Ghana are located within the “Meningitis belt” which covers about 25 countries with around 450 million people. Dr Sow indicates that the objective of introducing meningococcal A conjugate (Men A conjugate) vaccine is to reduce the incidence of meningitis epidemic that regularly hits the northern sector of Ghana.

At the regional launch of the campaign held On Monday 8 October, 2012 for the northern region at the United primary school in Tamalé, the Northern regional Director of health services, Dr Akwasi Twumasi recalled that “in 2011, a total of 251 cases of meningitis were reported with 28 deaths representing a case fatality rate (CSR) of 11.2%. The international acceptable level of CSR is 10%. In 2012 however, 221 cases and 37 deaths were recorded giving a case fatality rate of 16.7%. Epidemics in this region are always causes by Type “A” though the others occasionally cause disease”.

Early case detection and prompt response to outbreaks appear to be the most effective tool for dealing with this disease, Dr Twumasi added. He called on the populations and all stakeholders including Chiefs, leaders, Imams, Pastors, Civil Society Organizations, Community members and the media to spread the good news about the campaign and educate all citizens on the common symptoms of the disease, the preventive measures to adopt and most importantly to orient all eligible persons to the vaccination sites.

The current campaign is a joint effort between the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Ministry of Health of Ghana.

The worst epidemic that hit Ghana due to Serotype A occurred in 1996/1997 in which about 18,703 cases were reported, with 1,356 deaths mostly recorded in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions.

Cerebrospinal meningitis is an infection of the meninges, the thin lining that surrounds the brain and the spinal cord. Even with appropriate treatment, around 10 percent of patient die and up to 20% of survivors have serious permanent health problems like epilepsy or mental retardation.

The new conjugate vaccine against Meningitis was successfully introduced in 2010 in neigbouring countries, namely Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

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For more information, please contact:

Stanley DIAMENU, EPI Officer, tel +233 244312896, e-mail: diamenus [at] gh.afro.who.int
Dr Pierre BWALE,  MenA Consultant, tel +233-262-714 464; Email: bwalep [at] gmail.com
Hilaire DADJO, Communications Officer, tel + 233 247202395; Email dadjoh [at] bf.afro.who.int