Meningitis A is a devastating disease afflicting 26 countries in Africa’s meningitis belt across sub-Saharan Africa.  Thousands of people would die or be disabled each year, such as the 1996-97 epidemic when 25,000 were killed and a quarter million afflicted.  The disease primarily afflicts young adults and children, leaving many wage earners with permanent brain damage.  The Meningitis Vaccine Program (MVP) was formed by the health non-profit PATH, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the World Health Organization to combat this epidemic.

Besides regulating the safety of food and health products, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) also conducts research on human health issues.  FDA scientists set out to create a better meningitis vaccine production method for the MVP.  The new technology they came up with raised the vaccine production yield from 20% to 60% and enabled the vaccine to last up to four days without refrigeration, unlike previous vaccines.  FDA licensed the technology to the MVP and hosted production scientists from MVP’s Indian manufacturer to teach them how to use the vaccine production technology.  As a result, more than 235 million people in Africa’s meningitis belt have been immunized with MenAfriVac® since 2010.  Only four cases of meningitis A were reported in 2013 in the immunized region covering 16 countries.  In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that MenAfriVac® be introduced in routine immunization schedules in sub-Saharan Africa.  This will ensure that infants are protected against meningitis and will maintain population-wide immunity.