Geneva, Sep 28 (TIWN): The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday launched the first-ever global strategy to defeat meningitis -- a debilitating disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people each year.

The Global Roadmap to Defeat Meningitis by 2030, launched at a virtual event, aims to eliminate epidemics of bacterial meningitis — the most deadly form of the disease — and to reduce deaths by 70 per cent and halve the number of cases.  In total, the strategy could save more than 200,000 lives annually and significantly reduce disability caused by the disease by 2030.