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US and Germany fight meningitis

Country Map - Burkina Faso IRIN
Burkina Faso
    ABIDJAN

    The United States and Germany have donated 43 million francs CFA (US $60,000) to stop a meningitis epidemic which has claimed about 1,000 lives in Burkina Faso, AFP reported Burkinabe officials as saying on Thursday. The money will be used to buy additional vaccines.

    Burkina Faso is located in Africa’s “meningitis belt” and suffers from this disease each year from November to April. It has been the hardest hit in West Africa this year with more than 6,000 cases recorded since January.

    However the disease has entered into its “declining phase”, AFP quoted the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Health, Mathias Some as saying. About three million people have already been vaccinated, AFP reported.

    The German donation amounted to 25 millions francs CFA and the US contributed the remainder.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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