Urgent appeal on behalf of children hit by meningitis in Burkina Faso

We are appealing for your help for the children of Burkina Faso, a country which, according to experts, stands on the brink of a meningitis epidemic.

Meningitis is a terrible disease, causing brain damage, disability and death. The youngest children are the most vulnerable. Since January, there have been almost 3,000 cases and 11 districts are experiencing epidemics, including areas where Plan works. Worryingly, the worst may be yet to come. Children are most at risk in the burning heat of March and April - Burkina's so-called "meningitis season".

Rheal Drisdelle, Plan's Programme Manager in Burkina Faso said, "This outbreak is a tragedy for children, families and communities in Burkina Faso. Equally tragic is the fact that the plight of children with meningitis receives precious little attention in the West.

"If nothing is done, it could become a kind of silent tsunami, in which thousands of children could die. We urgently need the compassion and generosity of our sponsors in the UK and elsewhere."

Please make an emergency donation today

The good news is that meningitis can be treated if caught early, but in a country as poor as Burkina Faso, the health service simply does not have the resources to combat an epidemic on this scale. That's why Plan wants to step in to treat children and adults already affected and help prevent the epidemic from spreading.

Plan is not a medical emergencies organisation, but we have been working in Burkina for many years, and our grass-roots knowledge means we are very well-placed to help halt the epidemic.

But saving lives costs money. So we need your help to buy the medical equipment necessary to treat and prevent meningitis.

• A donation of £125 could buy enough serum to vaccinate more than 200 people • £50 would pay for almost 1,000 syringes • Just £30 could buy enough medication for a rural health centre

In the coming months, we will team up with the World Health Organisation and Burkina's health service to vaccinate many more children against meningitis - helping to lessen the future impact of this terrible disease.

Please give today

Your help is desperately needed. You can give via the Plan UK website (http://www.plan-uk.org/), or by calling us on 0800 526 848.