Benin news and features

A revolutionary meningitis vaccine will reach the 100 millionth person this week in a region of Africa that has been plagued by deadly epidemics for more than a century. The milestone will take place in northern Nigeria, part of Africa’s “meningitis belt’, where the country is conducting its second seasonal immunisation campaign against the disease.

Partners Forum 2012 - Session summary

GAVI Board Chair meets with Bono and European Commissioner for Development on Brussels visit

Efforts to eliminate meningitis in 26 at-risk countries will take a major step forward over the next three months as 50 million people receive crucial vaccinations in seven African countries.

Advances lauded as Malawi becomes next developing country to introduce pneumococcal vaccine on Saturday - World Pneumonia Day.

The Republic of Burundi will next week accelerate its fight against pneumonia, the world's biggest killer of children under five, when it becomes the tenth African country to introduce new pneumococcal vaccines.

The Governments of Central African Republic, Benin and Cameroon will introduce vaccines in the coming weeks to combat pneumonia, one of the biggest killers of children worldwide.

A record 50 GAVI eligible countries have applied for vaccine funding from the GAVI Alliance during the organisation’s latest application round, reported GAVI officials today.

Twenty seven countries contribute to vaccine costs through the GAVI Alliance; up from just six in 2007.

The city of Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire can once again be considered safe from a Yellow Fever epidemic after the national Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF nongovernmental organizations and others in the Yellow Fever Partnership combined their forces to vaccinate over 2.2 million people in the Ivorian capital.