Siobhán Carroll, founder and CEO of ACT for Meningitis has this week been appointed as Vice-President for the Europe/Africa region of CoMO; the global Confederation of Meningitis Organisations.
CoMO, an international member organisation working to reduce the incidence and impact of meningitis worldwide, was founded in September 2004 at the World Conference of Meningitis Organisations when delegates from across the world agreed to work together in the fight against meningitis. Today, CoMO represents 45 member organisations from 27 countries.
The elevation is especially point for Ms Carroll as this Spring marks the tenth anniversary of the death from meningitis of her beloved daughter Aoibhe.
Joining CoMO five years ago, ACT for Meningitis became the Irish representative with the group and since then Siobhán has attended their annual regional and global conferences, representing Ireland and working together with 26 other countries worldwide to fight meningitis.
“It is an absolute honour to accept the role of Europe/Africa Vice President and to represent CoMO in this region” says Ms Carroll.
“This April will mark 10 years since we lost our beloved daughter Aoibhe to meningitis, a loss that literally broke our hearts and changed our lives forever.
“Setting up ACT for Meningitis in 2011 with the hope of preventing another family going through that, led me on a journey I could never have contemplated, and working with CoMO has provided a platform for ACT, as the Irish representative, to bring our work in disease awareness to an international level,” she said.
“In my new role as vice-president, I very much look forward to working in this global advisory capacity, to highlight the activities of the organisation as an integral part of the Governing Council.
“While I will remain based in Galway and fully committed as always to ACT, this role will involve a little more travel and I am excited to begin this new journey by taking up position with rest of my CoMO colleagues at the Global Conference in Singapore in March,” she concluded.
The confederation coordinates international advocacy campaigns to raise awareness of meningitis, lobby for policy change and to fight for global prevention and treatment. CoMO rightfully believes that meningitis is an important global health issue that should be on every government’s agenda.
