WORLD MENINGITIS DAY 2019 MEMBER ACTIVITIES
Our members from our three regions, Europe Africa, Asia Pacific and the Americas, organised a huge variety of activities to mark World Meningitis Day 2019! Take a look at what they did and get inspired for next year’s commemoration.
Australia
Meningitis Centre Australia (MCA)
MCA had a stall at a major suburban shopping centre to commemorate World Meningitis Day, also sharing CoMO’s toolkit on their social media channels to raise awareness. Furthermore, MCA got numerous states involved in the event, encouraging capital cities to light up their landmarks to great effect!
Canada
Meningitis Research Foundation of Canada (MRFC)
MRFC held its annual WMD Wine Auction fundraiser on April 24th in Toronto. Through their auction they raised an incredible $22,000 to help support meningitis awareness and prevention! MRFC’s Chair, Greg Hum, was also interviewed on World Meningitis Day for a future public service announcement on vaccine prevention.
MeningitisBC.org acquired a proclamation from the BC Provincial Government acknowledging World Meningitis Day on April 24th and will soon start a MCV4 vaccine clinic to reach adolescents in their community who are not considered eligible for free vaccinations, boosting herd immunity!
MASA have gone international, hosting a World Meningitis Day in China! MASA raised awareness among children and adolescents at school.
JaCMO held World Meningitis Day in the main hall of Osaka’s City General Hospital, with the theme: "The Child's Life and Smile which can be protected by our knowledge of Meningitis". While JaCMO organised it, 26 organisations also took part, with two guest speakers delivering presentations to an audience of 140 people. The first presentation was on GBS (Group B Streptococcus) and the second discussed the after effects of meningitis and the medical and social support available to survivors.
Netherlands
Nigeria
Care and Development Centre (CADEC)
CADEC raised awareness among university students, operating with the help of the State Ministry of Health. They also engaged in advocacy work, visiting the Permanent Secretary of Rivers State Ministry of Health to advocate for the inclusion of the meningitis vaccine in routine immunization for under-5s.
The Philippines
Philippine Foundation for Vaccination (PFV)
PFV kicked off World Meningitis Day by encouraging people to take part in a social media campaign with the hashtag #meningitisfighterph, aiming to start conversations among friends and family about meningitis. A Zumba Dance for Health against Meningitis and interactive games energized the participants and experts in the field held talks, encouraging people to become vaccine heroes. The day finished with the vaccination of children and media interaction.
Spain
Asociación Española Contra la Meningitis (AEM)
AEM produced a video “24h with Davide”, featuring an ambassador explaining how he contracted meningococcal disease and sepsis, leading to limb loss. AEM representatives were also interviewed on three TV channels (two national, one regional). In the past month they have been very busy advocating for the inclusion of MenACWY and MenB vaccines, travelling to 17 different Health offices throughout the country. AEM are thrilled to announce that three states have decided to include the MenB vaccine for free: Canary Islands, Castilla and León, and Andalucía.
Sweden
The founder of Barnplantorna attended a board meeting of the EURO-CIU (European Association of Cochlear Implant Users), an organisation for cochlear implant users with 31 member countries. Loss of hearing is one of the most common after effects associated with bacterial meningitis; the founder of Barnplantorna, who is also the mother of the first child to receive a cochlear implant in Sweden, was also one of the co-founders of EURO-CIU in 1995, making history!
The Turkiye Menenjit Bilgi Merkezi invited a nurse to deliver a talk for high school students, teaching them about meningitis, as well as the importance of vaccination. They were also heavily involved on social media, supported by their students and posting a video in Turkish on the symptoms of meningitis.
Meningitis Now sent out two email newsletters (Meningitis Matters) to their supporters and published a blog focusing on supporters’ stories. They also widely circulated two videos - one of a young boy called Frank who lives with severe meningitis after effects and one montage-style video (above) of many different people's lives #AfterMeningitis.
MRF released their eagerly awaited Meningitis Progress Tracker, an essential tool for the surveillance of meningitis and neonatal sepsis in under-5s worldwide. Click here to view it and see how your country or region compares to others!
Founders of the Kimberly Coffey Foundation and The Emily Stillman Foundation, joining forces to create the MenB Action Project, encouraged supporters across the U.S. to commit to completing at least one action against MenB in every single state. The founders also created the video below, sharing their knowledge about meningococcal B/meningitis B.
The Dylan McNeil Foundation participated in a fundraiser for the Doernbacher Children's Hospital Child Life Program, a program that treated Dylan when he had meningitis. Stuffed animals, Play-Doh, Lego and toys for kids were donated, along with gift cards for parents, so they could shop while their child is at the hospital.
Want to share how you commemorated World Meningitis Day? Do you have any questions or ideas for next year? Get in touch!
#AfterMeningitis