From crisis to collaboration: Reducing meningitis mortality in Huambo province, Angola.
| Published date | 17 April 2024 |
M2 PRESSWIRE-April 17, 2024-: From crisis to collaboration: Reducing meningitis mortality in Huambo province, Angola
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RDATE:16042024
It's early morning, but Soba Arão Moma, a traditional leader in Benfica neighbourhood in Huambo province, Angola, is already interacting with residents and handing out leaflets. His mission is clear: to ensure everyone is fully informed about the meningitis outbreak affecting Angola's Huambo province and that no sick children are at home unattended when they should be in hospital.
Moma was part of a critical collaboration by the World Health Organization (WHO), Angola's Health Ministry, and the European Union to halt an alarming surge in meningitis cases in the province last year, reduce mortality rates, and boost healthcare capacity.
Between January and December 2023, Angola recorded a significant increase in suspected cases of meningitis, with 68,169 cases and 169 deaths. The high case fatality rate of 40% among the 336 cases reported in Huambo province means that it has accounted for almost 80% of deaths countrywide.
In general, Huambo province has been the focus of intervention to control a possible outbreak in the country since between January and December 2023, Angola recorded a significant increase in suspected cases of meningitis, with 68,169 cases and 169 deaths, of which 336 cases were reported in Huambo province, with a fatality rate of over 40%. This mortality rate is relatively high when compared to the average number of deaths recorded in the countries considered part of the meningitis belt in the WHO African region, of which Angola is not part.
Between January and May 2023, the province recorded 103 meningitis cases, resulting in 42 deaths, with a concerning 41% fatality rate. Medication shortages, healthcare personnel, and health facility understaffing exacerbated Huambo province's meningitis outbreak. To ensure an effective response and safeguard high-risk populations, a 20-day joint response mission to Huambo aimed to enhance the functionality of local health systems, improve infrastructure and medication availability, and bolster human resources.
Critical outcomes of joint efforts included training 37 healthcare technicians in risk communication and community engagement, training 30 journalists in how to communicate for meningitis prevention and response, engaging 595 community leaders, and training 1548 social mobilisers and community leaders like Moma to disseminate critical...
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