A Plan health advisor talks to the community about meningitis

5 May 2010: Plan is working fast to help Burkina Faso fight a meningitis outbreak.

The country is being hit especially hard by the disease, with a new strain of the virus, known as strain X, already claiming half of all the 718 meningitis related deaths since the beginning of the year. In 5 districts the disease is at epidemic level, and 9 more districts are on high alert.

The mortality rate is particularly high at 14%. Worryingly, children and young people are the most affected group, with 80% of patients aged between 2 and 30. There is no vaccine for strain X.

Life saving treatments

Plan Burkina Faso has stepped up efforts to deal with the outbreak. Plan has signed a convention with the Ministry of Health to fund antibiotics, other treatments and laboratory use and equipment. Plan has also supported the Ministry in purchasing vaccines against the other strains of meningitis, which are still killing many.

On a more local level, Plan’s 5 programme units in Burkina Faso are helping to treat patients by donating medicines and by giving support to health workers. So far 5,118 people nationally have been treated for the disease.

Informing communities

As well as giving direct medical treatment, Plan is also promoting health messages through radio - an effective way of reaching populations who would otherwise be difficult to contact.

Dr Ismailou Kaba, Plan’s health advisor in Burkina Faso, said: "Plan is spreading awareness about the disease through radio broadcasts which contain key messages about the disease and the health centres. We play these key messages at certain times of the day to encourage the population to go to health centres as soon as possible to reduce the lethality of the disease. Plan has reacted quickly to the meningitis outbreak and we will continue to work with the government."

The country has never seen so many cases of this new type of meningitis, strain X. As there is no vaccine for it, the focus for the moment must remain on antibiotic treatment. Plan continues to work with communities to monitor the situation closely.

Find out more about Plan’s work in Burkina Faso

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