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Slide 19 In order to address the issue of available information and support in low incidence countries, a search of the world wide web was conducted. It was very difficult to find data quickly, but the major conclusions are listed in this slide. Searchs of the internet presume of course that support organisations have websites, this is unlikely to be true in every case. Very small groups who are providing a useful service will remain unseen at all but a local level.

Slide 20 Association Audrey was founded in January 2000 after the death of Audrey from meningococcal disease at the age of 12 years. The website is well constructed and offers information both on the organisation and on the disease. A further Association is also registered in the South of France (Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône). This is a very small but determined team of two ladies who are striving to place information in schools in the area.

Slide 21 The Nederlandse Meningitis Stichting is the largest of the European support organisations, it has a staff of five and now also has a contact in Belgium. Again this is a well constructed site with information in the major European languages.

Slide 22 The information available to the European public is variable. There is a large amount of information on meningitis and meningococcal disease on the world wide web but the vast majority is in the English Language. Ministries of Health and Public Health Organisations are good sources of information. The websites of the major pharmaceutical companies also provide information in the European languages. Perhaps an unlikely place to look for impartial information is on a media website, but often organisations produce press releases that are reproduced on the sites.

Slide 23 Sourcing examples of public information literature in the European languages also proved difficult. Examples were sourced in French, Hungarian and Maltese but in general material was not well spread. This of course does not indicate that no information is available, simply that it could not be readily found.

Slide 24 The conclusion from this attempt to find European support and information must be that the public in low incidence countries remain vulnerable. Thankfully meningococcal disease remains rare across mainland Europe, but this should not mean that the public cannot be empowered to recognise the symptoms and act upon them. It may be their only defence in countries where vaccines are not widely distributed or easily obtainable.

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