A new roadmap for meningitis.

An ambitious and far-sighted plan focusing for the first time on a universal reduction of the burden of disease caused by meningitis is scheduled for discussion at this year's World Health Assembly in May. The proposal - titled Defeating Meningitis by 2030 - highlights bacterial meningitis, for which progress in the reduction of both mortality and morbidity has substantially lagged behind that made with other vaccine-preventable diseases. For example, the introduction of MenAfriVac, a meningococcal group A conjugate vaccine developed for use in the African meningitis belt, reduced the overall burden of suspected meningitis disease by around 60%. [Extracted from the article]