Launch of the Global Roadmap to Defeat Meningitis by 2030
CoMO members, representing patient groups across the world, provided feedback to the Roadmap and were invited to a public consultation.
Despite successful efforts to control meningitis in several regions, meningitis continues to be a major public health issue. It kills about 300,000 people annually, and leaves 1 in 5 of those affected with long-term devastating sequelae. It is also a significant health security concern. Meningitis epidemics can strike fast, are unpredictable and cause massive disruption to communities and health-systems.
For these reasons, the WHO collaborated with experts and patient groups to develop the first ever Global Roadmap that outlines a vision and strategy to defeat meningitis by 2030. This Roadmap includes three visionary goals: to i) eliminate epidemics of bacterial meningitis ii) reduce cases of vaccine-preventable bacterial meningitis by 50% and deaths by 70% and
iii) reduce disability and improve quality of life after meningitis of any cause.
With the Roadmap has been ratified and supported by countries across the world, a launch event was held on the 28th of September 2021.
About the event
To support implementation of the Roadmap and achievement of its ambitious targets, WHO, in collaboration with other key stakeholders involved in meningitis prevention and control, organised its official launch.
Programme and speakers
The programme included the following:
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Keynote address by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General
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Presentation of the Global Roadmap.
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Case stories around the three visionary goals
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Inputs from meningitis patient and families groups
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Commitments to defeat meningitis by 2030
CoMO members helped to inspire and drive the Roadmap and, accordingly, were also involved in the launch. An art competition open to CoMO members was organised to help celebrate this historic event, a video was published featuring CoMO members and one of the speakers was a CoMO member and long-time meningitis advocate.
Artwork Competition
We were delighted to receive submissions from: Japan, Nigeria, USA, the UK, Spain, France, Turkey, Sweden and India. Each entry is a touching reminder of we must continue our work to #DefeatMeningitis. The public gallery, with all of the artwork and messages received, will be open indefinitely. Whether you want to honour a lost loved one, submit artwork about your meningitis experience, or even a song, you can submit your message whenever you want. Below is a video of all of the artwork created to honour the Roadmap.
Let's #DefeatMeningitis