Battling meningitis and superstition

Some countries vaccinate against meningitis

By Francis Ngwa Niba in Cameroon

The traditional ruler of a town in north-west Cameroon has taken the unusual decision of suspending all funerals in an attempt to reduce the high death rate there.

An average of 10 people a week have been dying in the village of Baba 1 from a mysterious disease.

And ruler Fon Fuekemshi II believed the disease was being spread when large numbers of people gathered to pay their respects to the dead.

Despite reports in the local press attributing deaths in the region to meningitis, most people in the town refuse to accept this explanation and are blaming witches and wizards.

Health officials in the north-west have embarked on a sensitisation campaign to advise people on the meningitis epidemic, but local beliefs are limiting the impact of the campaign.

Mirror Capture

The villagers have even hired a renowned "witch hunter" from a neighbouring village known as Mirror Capture

Mirror Capture was subsequently expelled by local officials when the local people started refusing to go to hospital on his instructions.

One report even claimed that people took dead bodies to him to be resurrected after rumours spread that he had made a dead man speak and reveal his killer.

As for the village of Baba 1 itself, it is likely that the Fon will need more than a royal pronouncement to stop people from attending funerals which are an important part of local tradition.