New meningitis vaccine a "revolution"
The emergence of a new meningitis vaccine, rather than a large-scale outbreak of the disease, has prompted the current vaccination drive across West Africa. Health officials say the vaccine marks a "revolution" in preventing the highly contagious and fatal disease.
Health workers in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger - the three countries selected for introduction of the vaccine - are preparing for country-wide campaigns set for December, having just completed a limited pilot phase.
"This vaccine, which targets the bacterium [meningococcus A] most frequently causing epidemics, is about preventing epidemics, not waiting, then reacting," Mamoudou Harouna Djingarey of the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP) in Burkina Faso told IRIN.