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5 ways to get involved in World Meningitis Day 2022

Updated: Oct 18, 2022

With World Meningitis Day right around the corner (October 5th) and the countdown to defeat meningitis by 2030 well underway, you might find yourself asking how you can get involved in this year’s campaign. Well, ask no more. Below, you’ll find 5 easy ways for you to join the race to defeat meningitis by 2030:

1) Use and share the World Meningitis Day 2022 toolkit. Not only is this possibly the easiest way you can get involved with World Meningitis Day but it’s also probably the way you’re already aware of if you follow us on social media. Our toolkit maps out all of the essential aspects of getting involved with our 2022 campaign. It provides quick and comprehensive access to all of our communications tools, including: core messaging, suggested social media posts, editable infographics, translated infographics (including 20+ languages!), social media tiles with people’s stories, a virtual awareness raising guide, and more. Having a read-through is the perfect way to take your first step in joining a global community in a campaign against meningitis.


Sharing this with other budding advocates is a great way to encourage them to take their first step too. Check out our World Meningitis Day toolkit - you can see a few examples of what's available below.


2) Tell your politician about the importance of defeating meningitis. Grabbing the attention of your local policy maker is key when striving for local change. This year, we’ve put together a template that you can use to write a letter to your chosen politician. To access this template, follow the steps outlined by our ‘Tell your politician’ page.

Sarah, Founder of The Sarah Joyce Project, used our template letter last year and sent it to a local politician in Australia. For the first time ever the New South Wales Health Department recognised World Meningitis Day and raised awareness of the signs and symptoms with their networks.

3) Share your experience of meningitis. Many of the individuals and organisations that work alongside us have been personally impacted by meningitis. Many of these individuals are meningitis survivors and sadly, many others are bereaved family members and friends. The stories are often heartbreaking, but telling them serves as a powerful tool to raise awareness about the dangers of meningitis. The people that have been affected, both directly and indirectly by this disease tell their stories so that nobody else has to experience what they had to.

So, if you feel ready to share your meningitis story, do so this World Meningitis Day. We’ve made an editable infographic this year which allows you to input an image, your story and a fact (pictured above). You can find facts about meningitis from our factsheet and get modelled estimates on the number of cases and deaths due to meningitis in your country via the Meningitis Progress Tracker.

Check out our stats & stories infographic to share your story with your network this year. 4) Hold an event and/or a fundraiser. It is a truth universally acknowledged that having access to funds makes a huge difference when advocating for your cause. For patient groups or health charities, hosting an event on World Meningitis Day can serve a dual purpose: as a way to raise awareness for meningitis and as a fundraiser, which will allow you to build funds to support your activities throughout the year. Ideas for events could include: talks, discussions or lectures, running a marathon or another challenge event, quiz nights, or even hosting a book club. What’s more, the pandemic has encouraged us to make greater use of online spaces. Holding online events has become the new norm, allowing you to reach a bigger audience whilst also spending less time and money on the logistics of a more traditional in-person event.

To be inspired, download our virtual awareness raising guide or click here to see what some of our members did for 2021. 5) Follow #WorldMeningitisDay2022 or #DefeatMeningitis. Finally, keeping track of World Meningitis Day activity is the perfect way to stay informed. Follow the hashtags: #WorldMeningitisDay2022 and #DefeatMeningitis to receive updates on the activities that others are doing to commemorate the day. We’ll also be tracking these hashtags, so make sure you use them when you’re sharing the World Meningitis Day communications resources or posting about your own activity for the day. We want to be inspired by what you’re doing to defeat meningitis this year. So, there you have it: 5 easy ways to get involved with World Meningitis Day 2022 and join the race to defeat meningitis by 2030. Let’s work together this year to bring about global health change in the years to come. Learn more about World Meningitis Day, why it was created and its importance.

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