The 8th meeting was held on Tuesday the 13thday – Thursday 15day December 2022, chaired by Professors Brian Greenwood (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine – UK) and Professor Samba Sow (Centre for Vaccine Development – Mali). Some 40 members and WHO staff discussed global updates, regional and country implementation, country support for implementation, product development and guidance, surveillance, the investment case for beating meningitis, and advocacy activities.
The following presentations by partners and WHO Regional Focal Points were some of the highlights of the collaborative discussions led by members of the Task Force:
- Developing a country-based regional implementation framework to combat meningitis: the experience of the Pan American Health Organization
- Strengthening the linkages between the disability agenda and the roadmap to defeat meningitis at global and national levels: challenges and opportunities
- Global Meningitis Genome Partnership
- Developing a national plan to combat meningitis: process and materials, AFRO’s experience
- MenMap Project; Strengthening Surveillance of Invasive Bacterial Infections in North Africa and the Middle East
- Improving diagnosis, treatment and management of acute brain injury
- Health promotion and access to care in Chad
- An Affordable Path to Quality Healthcare Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme: Covering Malaria and Meningitis
“A lot has happened over the past few years, including the integration of meningitis control into primary health care and the rollout of standard care packages for meningitis diagnosis and management. The year to 2023 should see these promising advances achieved and sustain them generation of required financial support” Professor Brian Greenwood, Chair of the Technical Working Group, said.
Professor Samba Sow, Co-Chair of the Technical Working Group, said: “National advocacy and communication plans and community-based efforts are required, and the key to success will be listening to countries themselves about what they need and want.”
“By strengthening immunization programmes, global health security, access to disability support and primary health care, this roadmap will deliver benefits that go beyond meningitis control. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the world is capable of responding to global health threats with innovation and determination. With With the same innovation and determination, defeating meningitis is within reach. Let us act now,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
More information on the Beat Meningitis Initiative can be found here.
[[The Technical Taskforce (TTF) plays an essential role under the general authority of WHO, with specific responsibility for leading and coordinating the implementation of the WHO Defeating Meningitis by 2030 Global Road Map, globally and regionally, by providing a forum for technical exchange and cooperation on meningitis and Road Map related activities.]]
