For me, Dr. Marc LaForce is a hero.

The founder and former director of the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP), a partnership between PATH and the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. LaForce is the mastermind behind developing the world’s first vaccine especially for Africa, one that comes in at a price of around 50 cents a dose.

For that reason, I was thrilled to meet and interview him for the first time at a PATH reception in Washington, DC, celebrating his and MVP’s work.

Since campaigns started in 2010, the meningitis vaccine, MenAfriVac®, has been administered to over 210 million people in 15 countries across the African meningitis belt, which stretches from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east.

Before the vaccine, epidemic meningitis A plagued the meningitis belt, striking fast and with devastation that led to fear and panic in village after village. Following outbreaks, many died; others went deaf or suffered permanent learning disabilities. They were never the same.

My colleagues and I at Burness had the opportunity to communicate the story of this visionary project from the day it was founded, to the day it accomplished its mission of developing and delivering a vaccine that would end the cycle of meningitis A epidemics in Africa. The vaccine was just recently approved by the WHO to be used in children younger than one and is expected to protect millions more children against this deadly disease.

I’ve been working on immunization issues for two decades, and I remember when the toll of epidemic meningitis A was horrific, and when a vaccine like MenAfriVac® was just an idea. Having the opportunity to speak with Dr. LaForce about the incredible impact of this vaccine was truly an honor. As Dr. LaForce says, there’s nothing more just than making sure every human being, no matter where he or she lives, has access to lifesaving vaccines.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5liZG2E3o4[/embed]

Watch my interview with Dr. LaForce.

About this Series

Conversations in Development is a series that features interviews with fascinating people we have known or worked with over our 20+ years in the development space. Through these interviews, we’ll share fresh perspectives on a variety of issues, from agricultural development to global health to forestry, and hopefully spark a dialogue about the top development priorities in the world today.

This project is dedicated to our colleague Jeff Haskins, who passed away suddenly in July 2012. He was a “big ideas” guy, always pushing those he worked with to think about the world differently. We know he would be proud of this project.

Watch a video of ILRI’s Susan MacMillan’s reflections on Jeff.