The GAVI Alliance said it committed US$100 million “to help tackle meningitis A in Cameroon, Chad, and Nigeria as part of a strategy to save tens of thousands of lives in Africa with a new life-saving vaccine, MenAfriVac.” Helen Evans, interim GAVI CEO, said,  “We accelerated our approvals process so that we can ensure this vaccine is available in Cameroon, Chad, and Nigeria, before next year’s epidemic season due to start in December. This is a breakthrough vaccine in the fight against meningitis A. If GAVI is fully funded for our 2011-2015 programme, this vaccine could save many lives and avoid the other terrible consequences of epidemics.” http://www.gavialliance.org/media_centre/press_releases/meningitis_a_funding.php