Global leaders highlight the need to defeat meningitis – a leading cause of disability – at a high-level meeting co-hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Government of France, under the High Patronage of Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic. The event is taking place on 26-27 April 2024 at the Institut Pasteur and is supported by prominent athletes advocating on the cause ahead of the Paris Paralympics.

Building on news of Nigeria successfully rolling out a new, safe and highly effective vaccine, which targets five major strains of bacterial meningitis in Africa, leaders committed to implement the global roadmap for “Defeating Meningitis by 2030”, which needs a catalytic investment to action. This groundbreaking plan looks holistically at how to detect, control and beat meningitis in every region of the world, and how to provide rehabilitation to those who have suffered from the deadly disease.  

“Bacterial meningitis kills one in six of the people it strikes and leaves one in five with long-lasting disabilities. Yet many of these deaths and disabilities are preventable with vaccines,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “Committing to defeat meningitis by 2030 will not only save lives, but will also save billions of dollars in health costs and lost productivity.”