Children are the main victims of an epidemic of meningitis that has broken out in the sub-Saharan African country of Niger this year. The European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) is funding a vaccination programme based in the town of Niamey as part of a national campaign to combat the disease.

Meningitis often strikes Niger between February and May, when the weather is most dry. This year, the disease has been particularly lethal. Over the past two months, meningitis has killed more than 400 people, 11 percent of those who caught it. Most of those who died were children under the age of 15.

ECHO's partner in the field is Medecins Sans Frontieres-Belgium (MSF). The plan is to vaccinate those most at risk, 200,000 children in and around the town of Niamey. MSF has sent a team of six to Niger to set up the project, which is scheduled to last two months.

It will include supplying local medical services with antibiotics, and epidemiological follow-up. ECHO's grant of 215,000 European Currency Units (Ecu) will fund the programme.