It is the harmattan season in Burkina Faso, which creates favourable conditions for the appearance of meningococcus, the pathogenic bacterium that causes meningitis epidemics.
Every year, between November and the first rains that fall in May, Burkina Faso, like other countries situated in the “African meningitis belt”, lives in fear of an epidemic. There is certainly cause for concern; in 2007 the country suffered one of the worst meningitis epidemics since the 1996 outbreak, involving 25,852 reported cases and 1,743 deaths. The epidemic lasted 21 weeks and affected 43 of the 55 districts in the country at that time, taking a heavy toll on the population.
World Health Organization (WHO) forecasts for meningitis in 2008 are far from reassuring. “Africa will suffer one of the most virulent epidemics experienced in ten years,” warned WHO last October.
The outbreak of meningitis cases observed since January in many African countries is now corroborating these alarming predictions.
So far, Burkina Faso is the country that has been hardest hit by meningitis. Between January and mid-February, 1,422 cases and 204 deaths were reported nationwide. The districts of Mangodara and Gaoua, located on the border between Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire, are suffering epidemics, while Nanoro, Toma, Saponé and Réo in the mid-western part of the country are on alert.
The threat of an epidemic also looms in Benin, where 153 cases and two deaths have been reported in the districts of Atacora and Donga, in addition to 136 cases and 27 deaths in Borgou and Alibori.
The situation is equally alarming in the Central African Republic. At the end of January, 25 cases of meningitis, including five deaths, had been recorded in Nana Gribizi, a district with a population of 130,000 habitants located in the north-east of the country, resulting in a lethality of 23.3%.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there are three districts suffering epidemics and one district on alert. Cases of meningitis have also been recorded in Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Ghana and Togo during this period.
The alert threshold is five reported cases per 100,000 inhabitants per week in the same health district, while the epidemic threshold is set at ten.
In response to the outbreak of meningitis cases, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has allocated CHF 57,594 (FCFA 23,037,600/ EUR 35,120) from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund to help the Central African Red Cross Society carry out awareness activities in order to assist the government in its vaccination campaign aimed at the 130,000 inhabitants of the Nana Gribizi district.
The International Federation has also allocated CHF 50,000 (FCFA 20,000,000/EUR 30,489) to the Red Cross of Benin, so that it can step up awareness and social mobilization activities to combat meningitis.
In anticipation of a meningitis crisis, the International Federation launched an appeal for CHF 550,000 (FCFA 220,000,000, EUR 335,387) to carry out a series of meningitis prevention activities over four months in 11 West and Central African countries situated in the African meningitis belt.
With appeal coverage of 70%, nine countries have received support. They are Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Mali and Chad.
Thanks to the funds mobilized, a considerable number of volunteers have been trained in these countries. They have begun to organize educational and awareness campaigns to prevent meningitis in their communities.
In Burkina Faso, the volunteers trained in December 2007, with the support of the International Federation, are organizing awareness activities.
“The volunteers have participated in the reactive vaccination campaign organized by the Burkina Faso Ministry of Health in the Sapouy district. They also carried out a meningitis information and awareness campaign in the Saponé district,” remarked Dr Maxime Yaméogo, community health programme coordinator with the Burkina Faso Red Cross Society.
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Raising awareness about meningitis in Yako, 5 km north of Ouagadougou. (Photo Dr Maxime Yaméogo, Community Health Coordinator, Burkinabe Red Cross Society). (p17289)
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Raising awareness about meningitis at the market in Léo, 110 km south of Ouagadougou. (Photo: Dr Maxime Yaméogo, Community Health Coordinator, Burkinabe Red Cross Society). (p17290)
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