Headline

Nigeria Becomes First Country To Introduce New 5-in-1 Vaccine Against Meningitis – WHO

Published

2 years ago

April 13, 2024

Editor

Nigeria has become the first country in the world to roll out a new vaccine – Men5CV – recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), to protect people against meningitis.

The World Health body, in a statement on Friday, said that the vaccine would protect people against five strains of Meningococcus bacteria and described Nigeria’s feat as historic.

It said that health workers would begin an immunisation campaign aimed at reaching one million people.

The statement said that the vaccine and emergency vaccination activities are funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which funds the global meningitis vaccine stockpile and supports lower-income countries with routine vaccination against meningitis.

According to the WHO, Nigeria is one of the 26 meningitis hyper-endemic countries in Africa, situated in the area known as the African Meningitis Belt.

It noted that in 2023, there was a 50 per cent jump in annual meningitis cases reported across Africa.

“In Nigeria, an outbreak of Neisseria meningitidis (meningococcus) serogroup C outbreak, led to 1,742 suspected meningitis cases, including 101 confirmed cases and 153 deaths in seven of the 36 Nigerian states between October 2023 and March 2024.

“The states are Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Katsina, Yobe, and Zamfara.

“To quell the deadly outbreak, a vaccination campaign was undertaken on March 25–28, 2024, to initially reach more than one million people aged 1-29 years,” it said.

The statement noted that meningitis is a serious infection that leads to the inflammation of the membranes (meninges) that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord.

“There are multiple causes of meningitis, including viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic pathogens.

“Symptoms often include headache, fever, and stiff neck. Bacterial meningitis is the most serious and can also result in septicaemia (blood poisoning). It can seriously disable or kill within 24 hours,” the statement added.

It quoted Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, as saying that meningitis was an old and deadly foe, adding that the new vaccine holds the potential to change the trajectory of the disease, preventing future outbreaks and saving many lives.

“Nigeria’s rollout brings us one step closer to our goal of eliminating meningitis by 2030,” Ghebreyesus said.

He said that the revolutionary new vaccine offers a powerful shield against the five major strains of the meningococcal bacteria – A, C, W, Y, and X – in a single shot.

All five strains cause meningitis and blood poisoning.

According to him, this provides broader protection than the current vaccine used in much of Africa, which is only effective against the A strain.

He said that the new vaccine has the potential to significantly reduce meningitis cases and advance progress in defeating meningitis.

“This is especially important for countries like Nigeria, where multiple serogroups are prevalent.

“The new vaccine uses the same technology as the meningitis A conjugate vaccine (MenAfriVac®), which wiped out meningococcal A epidemics in Nigeria,” the WHO boss said.

The statement quoted Prof. Muhammad Pate, Nigeria’s Minister of Health and Social Welfare, as saying that Northern Nigeria, particularly the states of Jigawa, Bauchi, and Yobe, were badly hit by the deadly outbreak of meningitis.

“This vaccine provides health workers with a new tool to both stop this outbreak and also put the country on a path to elimination,” Pate said.

According to him, Nigeria has done a lot of work preparing health workers and the health system for the rollout of the new vaccine.

“We got invaluable support from our populations in spite of the fasting period, and from our community leaders, especially the Emir of Gumel in Jigawa, who personally launched the vaccination campaign in the state.

“We’ll be monitoring progress closely and hopefully expand the immunisation in the coming months and years to accelerate progress,” he said.

The minister said that the new multivalent conjugate vaccine took 13 years of effort and was based on a partnership between PATH and the Serum Institute of India.

“Financing from the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office was critical to its development,” he said.

Pate said that in July 2023, WHO prequalified the new Men5CV vaccine (which has brand name MenFive®), and in October 2023, it issued an official recommendation to countries to introduce the new vaccine.

According to him, Gavi allocated resources for the Men5CV rollout in December 2023, which are currently available for outbreak response through the emergency stockpile managed by the International Coordinating Group (ICG) on vaccine provision.

He added that the rollout, through mass preventive campaigns, was expected to start in 2025 across countries of the Meningitis Belt.

Mr Andrew Mitchell, UK Minister for Development and Africa, was also quoted as saying that the rollout of one million vaccines in northern Nigeria would help save lives, prevent long-term illness, and boost the goal of defeating meningitis globally by 2030.

“This is exactly the kind of scientific innovation supported by the UK, which I hope is replicated in years to come, to help us drive further breakthroughs, including wiping out other diseases,” Mitchell said.

He said that WHO has been supporting the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) in responding to the meningitis outbreak in the country.

According to him, the areas of support include disease surveillance, active case finding, sample testing, and case management.

“WHO and partners have also played a vital role in supporting Nigeria to prepare for the rollout of the new vaccine and training health workers,” he said.

Dr Nanthalile Mugala, PATH’s Chief of Africa Region, was also quoted as saying that meningococcal meningitis had tormented countries across Africa year after year.

“The introduction of MenFive® in Nigeria heralds a transformative era in the fight against meningococcal meningitis in Africa.

“Building on the legacy of previous vaccination efforts, this milestone reflects over a decade of unwavering, innovative partnerships.

“The promise of MenFive® lies not just in its immediate impact but in the countless lives it stands to protect in the years to come, moving us closer to a future free from the threat of this disease,” Mugala said.

According to her, in 2019, WHO and partners launched the global roadmap to defeating meningitis by 2030.

“The roadmap sets a comprehensive vision towards a world free of meningitis and has three goals, including the elimination of bacterial meningitis epidemics.”

Another goal is the reduction of cases of vaccine-preventable bacterial meningitis by 50 per cent and deaths by 70 per cent, as well as the reduction of disability and improvement of quality of life after meningitis, due to any cause.

Ms Aurélia Nguyen, Chief Programme Officer at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, was also quoted as saying that with outbreaks of infectious diseases on the rise worldwide, new innovations such as MenFive® were critical in helping the fight back.

She said that Vaccine Alliance funds the global stockpile as well as vaccine rollout in lower-income countries.

“This first shipment signals the start of Gavi support for a multivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MMCV) programme which, with the required donor funding for our next five years of work, will see pentavalent meningococcal conjugate vaccines rolled out in high-risk countries.

“Thanks to vaccines, we have eliminated large and disruptive outbreaks of meningitis A in Africa, and now we have a tool to respond to other serogroups that still cause large outbreaks, resulting in long-term disability and deaths,” Nguyen said.

According to her, following Nigeria’s meningitis vaccine campaign, a major milestone on the road to defeat meningitis is the international summit on meningitis taking place in Paris in April 2024, where leaders will celebrate progress, identify challenges and assess next steps.

“It is also an opportunity for country leaders and key partners to commit, politically and financially, to accelerate progress towards eliminating meningitis as a public health problem by 2030,” she said. (NAN)
VANGUARD

Headline

FG Summons S. African Envoy Over Rising Xenophobic Attacks On Nigerians

Published

2 days ago

May 3, 2026

Editor

The Federal Government has summoned the Acting High Commissioner of South Africa in Abuja over renewed concerns about xenophobic attacks and protests targeting foreign nationals, including Nigerians, living in that country.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the envoy is expected at its headquarters on Monday, May 4, 2026, for a high-level engagement aimed at addressing the growing tension and safeguarding bilateral relations between both countries.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the spokesperson for the Ministry, Kimiebi Ebienfa, said Nigeria would formally express its “profound concern” over recent developments in South Africa, particularly reports of harassment, violence, and destruction of property belonging to foreign nationals.

According to the ministry, the meeting will focus on ongoing demonstrations by various groups in South Africa and documented cases of attacks on Nigerians and their businesses in parts of the country.

“The objective of this engagement is to formally convey the Nigerian Government’s profound concern regarding recent events that have the potential to impact the established cordial relations between Nigeria and South Africa,” the statement read.

It added that discussions would also address ongoing demonstrations by various groups within South Africa and documented instances of mistreatment of Nigerian citizens and attacks on their businesses.

The ministry acknowledged growing anger among Nigerians over reports of xenophobic violence but urged restraint, stressing that diplomatic engagement remained the preferred channel for resolution.

It assured Nigerians that the Federal Government was actively engaging South African authorities to ensure the protection of its citizens abroad.

“The Ministry is aware of the growing discontent among Nigerians concerning the treatment of their nationals in South Africa. Nevertheless, it implores the Nigerian public to remain calm and reiterates the Federal Government’s commitment to protecting the rights and well-being of Nigerian citizens residing in South Africa,” the statement added.

The latest diplomatic move comes amid renewed reports of xenophobic tensions in parts of South Africa, where foreign-owned businesses have occasionally been targeted during protests linked to unemployment and economic hardship.

South Africa has a history of xenophobic violence dating back to 2008, with subsequent flare-ups in 2015 and 2019, when mobs attacked migrants, looted shops, and displaced thousands of foreign nationals across several provinces.

In past incidents, Nigerians and other African nationals were among those affected, prompting strong diplomatic reactions from Abuja and calls for stronger protection of foreign communities.

While South African authorities have repeatedly condemned such attacks and deployed security forces to restore order during outbreaks of violence, concerns have persisted over recurring hostility in some communities.

Headline

Mississippi Man ‘Kills Mother, Flushes Her Remains Down Toilet’

Published

3 days ago

May 2, 2026

Editor

A 29-year-old Mississippi man, Zachary Lavel Jackson Jr., has been charged with multiple offences, including first-degree murder, over the death of his mother, Lana Brown Bradley, after deputies responded to her Natchez home on April 4 following a missing person report from relatives.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were called to Bradley’s residence after her oldest son was unable to reach her the previous day.

Jackson was initially identified as a family member before investigators confirmed he was her son.

Sheriff Travis Patten described the case as deeply disturbing.“This is by far the most heinous crime that I’ve ever witnessed in my entire life. We weren’t out there that day; this was one of those things when we walked up.

“This was one of those cases that you will never, ever forget in your life. This is the type of case that follows you home,” Patten told WJTV.

According to the sheriff, deputies noticed signs of a recent cleanup when they arrived at the home.

“As soon as they walked in the house, they could just see where somebody had been cleaning up, and they could smell chemicals all throughout the house.

“Floor was extremely slippery. And the older son said that this is just unusual for the youngest son to be cleaning up the house like that,” Patten explained.

Jackson, the youngest son, was found in a bathroom, where deputies allegedly made a discovery that became central to the investigation.

“I can say what was in the toilet, and it was her flesh. He chopped her up in pieces and dismembered her in a way that whoever came looking for her would have to do their due diligence to find her, and that’s just what we did,” the sheriff said.

Authorities said Jackson allegedly placed parts of his mother’s body in a suitcase and attempted to dispose of other remains.

Jackson faces charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, mayhem and tampering with evidence.

Headline

Iran Says War With US May Resume As Trump Rejects Proposal

Published

3 days ago

May 2, 2026

Editor

Iran’s military has warned that the war with the United States and Israel could resume, declaring that it is fully prepared for any renewed confrontation as tensions between the sides continue to deepen.

In a statement reported by Iranian state-affiliated media, senior military officials said a return to hostilities is “likely”, citing what they described as Washington’s lack of commitment to previous agreements and negotiations.

The warning comes after US President Donald Trump expressed dissatisfaction with Iran’s latest peace proposal, saying the terms presented by Tehran included demands he “can’t agree to”.

According to officials in Tehran, Iran believes it showed flexibility during earlier negotiations, including talks held in Islamabad and during the ceasefire period. However, authorities argue that the United States has instead taken a tougher stance, widening the gap between both sides.

Iranian officials insist that key issues such as sanctions relief and the status of the Strait of Hormuz must be resolved before any broader agreement, including discussions around its nuclear programme, can progress. They also reject what they describe as US demands amounting to “surrender”.

The growing diplomatic deadlock has raised fears that another round of fighting may be imminent, with Iranian authorities indicating that preparations are already underway.

Meanwhile, the prolonged conflict continues to have far-reaching consequences within Iran. Internet monitoring group NetBlocks reports that the country has entered its 64th day of near-total internet disruption, effectively isolating it from global online networks.

The shutdown, which began after renewed anti-government protests earlier in the year and intensified following the outbreak of the war, has significantly disrupted businesses and livelihoods across the country.

Beyond Iran, the conflict is also reshaping global dynamics. Rising oil prices linked to the war have placed pressure on international markets, while geopolitical tensions have strained alliances, including between the United States and European partners.

As both sides remain far apart on key issues, analysts warn that without a breakthrough in negotiations, the fragile pause in fighting could collapse, paving the way for renewed military escalation in the region.