---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 02:48:12 -0700
From: The Soul Beat <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: The Soul Beat Issue 113: Communication for Malaria Prevention and
Treatment
The Soul Beat Issue 113: Communication for Malaria Prevention and Treatment
August 27 2008
From SOUL BEAT AFRICA - where communication and media are central to AFRICA's social and
economic development
===
Each year, as many as 500 million cases of malaria occur worldwide, leading to one million deaths,
mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. The vast majority of malaria deaths occur in Africa, especially in remote
rural areas with poor access to health services. Malaria is especially dangerous for pregnant women
and their unborn children. In sub-Saharan Africa, malaria infection is estimated to cause 400,000
cases of severe maternal anaemia and 75,000–200,000 infant deaths annually (Jhpiego news release
for Africa Malaria Day 2007 http://www.jhpiego.jhu.edu/media/releases/nr20070424.htm )
This issue of The Soul Beat contains experiences, strategic thinking documents and resource materials
which highlight how communication strategies involving advocacy, social marketing, community
participation, multi-media initiatives, and the media can contribute to the prevention and treatment of
malaria in Africa.
If you would like your organisation's communication work or research and resource documents to be
featured on the Soul Beat Africa website and in The Soul Beat newsletters, please contact
[log in to unmask]
To subscribe to The Soul Beat, go to http://www.comminit.com/en/user/register/38 or send an email
to [log in to unmask] with a subject of "subscribe".
===
EXPERIENCES
http://www.comminit.com/en/africa/experiences.html
1. Voices for a Malaria Free Future - Mali
In 2007, Voices for a Malaria-Free Future was involved in and supported two campaigns in Mali. One
was an advocacy campaign which took place from July-October 2007, and the other was the Ministry
of Health’s integrated campaign, which provided measles and polio vaccinations, deworming
medication, Vitamin A, and insecticide treated nets to over 2.8 million children and 160,000 women
post-partum. As part the advocacy and awareness-raising activities, the campaigns used Malian music
personalities to address decision makers, and promoted messages through songs specifically
produced by Malian musicians for the campaigns.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/273573/38
Contact Claudia Vondrasek [log in to unmask]
2. Malaria No More - Make Your Mark - Africa, North America
This is a United States-based organisation that works to raise the profile of malaria among the public,
policymakers, and businesses, while engaging the private sector to provide life-saving bed nets and
other critical interventions to families in Africa. It intends to raise awareness about malaria and malaria
prevention both in Africa and among North Americans. As part of the campaign and in order to include
young people, Malaria No More developed a "Make Your Mark" website which includes resources to
help young people become active around malaria issues, as well as educational materials for use in
schools.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/273692/38
Contact [log in to unmask]
3. African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN) - Africa
Launched in 2006, this network seeks to promote malaria research communication in Africa by
strengthening the capacity of African journalists through training. The network of African journalists
and scientists focuses on disseminating information on malaria control initiatives and monitors and
advocates for the implementation of malaria policies in Africa.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/266208/38
Contact Charity Binka [log in to unmask] OR [log in to unmask] AND WOMEC [log in to unmask]
4. National Malaria Control Programme - Tanzania
Launched in 2007 by Tanzania's Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW), the National Malaria
Control Programme (NMCP) aims to improve malaria treatment and awareness in Tanzania through a
multi-media campaign which involves television, radio, posters, and music to promote and improve
malaria treatment awareness.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/135350/38
Contact Dr. Desmond Chavasse [log in to unmask] OR Ministry of Health and Social Welfare
[log in to unmask] OR Tanzania Food and Drug Authority (TFDA) [log in to unmask]
5. Mobilize Against Malaria - Kenya, Ghana and Senegal
Launched in 2007 by Pfizer, Mobilize Against Malaria is a 5-year initiative in Kenya, Ghana, and
Senegal that aims to engage and educate treatment providers and patients to improve the use and
effectiveness of malaria treatment and patient adherence. Working in collaboration with implementing
partners in each of the countries, the initiative focuses on training and building capacity, as well as
providing grants, evaluation support, and technical expertise.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/266111/38
Contact Imraan Munshi [log in to unmask]
6. Voices for a Malaria-Free Future - Ghana
The Voices for a Malaria-Free Future project in Ghana aims to mobilise leadership in government and
civil society to become involved in malaria programmes, enhance district-level advocacy, improve
policy dissemination and reduce barriers to policy implementation, and advocate for increased funding
for malaria in the country. The project aims to achieve this mainly through television and radio spots
and the production of print materials to build capacity for advocacy.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/274782/38
Contact Claudia Vondrasek [log in to unmask]
STRATEGIC THINKING
http://www.comminit.com/en/africa/strategicthinking.html
7. An Exploratory Study of Community Factors Relevant for Participatory Malaria Control on Rusinga
Island, Western Kenya
by Pamela Opiyo, W Richard Mukabana, Ibrahim Kiche, Evan Mathenge, Gerry F Killeen, and Ulrike
Fillinger
According to the authors, the involvement and active participation of communities has been identified
as a key factor for success of malaria control in rural environments. Through an exploratory study, this
research evaluates community factors relevant for participatory malaria control on Rusinga Island,
western Kenya. Results showed that, though malaria is considered one of the major threats to life,
there is little effective knowledge of malaria prevention, including causal knowledge of the
transmission cycle. Misconceptions about malaria and distrust of messages from 'outside' were
consistent with those found elsewhere in Africa.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/270656/38
8. Understanding and Improving Access to Prompt and Effective Malaria Treatment and Care in Rural
Tanzania: the ACCESS Programme
by Manuel W Hetzel, Nelly Iteba, Ahmed Makemba, Christopher Mshana, Christian Lengeler, Brigit
Obrist, Alexander Schulze, Rose Nathan, Angel Dillip, Iddy Mayumana, Rashid A Khatib, Joseph D Njau,
and Hassan Mshinda
This projected research on malaria interventions is designed to evaluate the ACCESS programme, a
programme intending to understand and improve access to prompt and effective malaria treatment
and care in a rural Tanzanian setting. The programme's strategy, as stated in the document, "is based
on a set of integrated interventions, including social marketing for improved care seeking at the
community level as well as strengthening of quality of care at health facilities. This is complemented
by a project that aims to improve the performance of drug stores." The document describes the
programme and its baseline study in preparation for extended monitoring and evaluation.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/270598/38
9. Role of Information and Communication Networks in Malaria Survival
by Pallab Mozumder and Achla Marathe
This research investigates the impact of information and communication network (ICN) density
variables on malaria death probability. It pools data from 70 different countries to construct a panel
dataset of health and socio-economic variables for a time span of 1960-2004 to study the effects of
the density of telephone lines and television sets in malaria-exposed populations to see if ICN density
improves the effectiveness of existing resources for malaria prevention and treatment. The major
finding of this research is that the intensity of ICN is associated with reduced probability of deaths of
people that are clinically identified as malaria-infected.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/269865/38
10. Participatory Communication in Malaria Control: Why Does It Matter?
by Alison Dunn
This paper explores how community-level communication can engage the most vulnerable people -
such as children under 5 years of age and women in the economically poorest communities in Africa -
in strategies to prevent and treat malaria. It is based on the premise that current malaria control
strategies rely predominantly on individuals and communities to take action to protect and treat
themselves, such as using insecticide-treated bed nets and (as is sometimes the case) impregnating
them at timely intervals, often at the user's expense. The author argues that such strategies will only
succeed, if there is effective, contextual communication and genuine understanding around the
causes, symptoms, and means of preventing and treating malaria.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/220888/38
11. The Economics of Social Marketing: The Case of Mosquito Nets in Tanzania
by Nassor Kikumbih, Kara Hanson, Anne Mills, Hadji Mponda, and Joanna A. Schellenberg
This article offers an economic analysis of a social marketing project for insecticide-treated mosquito
nets distribution in Tanzania. The main focal point is the ways in which social marketing can stimulate
demand for nets - a public sector input, and encourage the growth of product supplies - a private
sector output with public health impact. Instead of focusing on the cost-benefit aspect of social
marketing, the present study investigates the economics of social marketing, by asking two key
questions: how does social marketing affect the market for nets (i.e., price and coverage)?; and what
does the added cost of social marketing "buy" in terms of coverage and equity, compared with an
unassisted commercial sector model?
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/70892/38
12. The Social Marketing of Insecticide-Treated Nets (ITNs) in Kenya: Cases in Public Health
Communication & Marketing
by Dana Tilson
This paper explores the work of Population Services International (PSI), an organisation that uses social
marketing in Kenya to promote insecticide treated nets (ITNs) to prevent malaria. According to the
report, the goal of social marketing is to promote healthy behaviour among low-income and
underserved people in order to increase their standard of living and quality of life. Social marketing
utilises a variety of private sector practices, such as commercial distribution of branded health
products and services, mass media, and a range of behaviour change communications (BCC)
techniques to achieve this goal.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/267269/38
MATERIALS
http://www.comminit.com/en/africa/materials.html
13. Spot On Malaria: A Guide to Adapting, Developing and Producing Effective Radio Spots
by Cate Cowan and Lonna Shafritz
This guide focuses on malaria prevention and treatment messages and ways to tailor them to reach
communities often missed by national malaria programmes. It shows how to adapt or localise
materials from national malaria programmes and how to create original radio spots or advertisements
to respond to local needs. The guide also offers tools to help navigate the production process.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/186842/38
14. Malaria in Pregnancy Resource Package
This online resource package published by Jhpiego, an international non-profit health organisation
affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, is designed for policy-makers, public health professionals,
and managers who are implementing, scaling up, or updating programmes designed to reduce malaria
in pregnancy and provide effective treatment for pregnant women with malaria. The resource package
includes training resources, programming resources, and reference materials, all free to download,
which intend to be easily adapted to a specific country’s public health context.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/273589/38
15. Ghana Malaria Advocacy Guide - A Guide to the Promotion of Advocacy for Malaria Control
Programs in Ghana
This guide, published by Voices for a Malaria Free Future in Ghana, is designed to help malaria
advocates clearly understand the concept of advocacy and master the knowledge and skills required to
successfully operate as effective malaria advocates. The guide is designed to provide basic information
about malaria in Ghana, and gives practical examples of how some of the key concepts in advocacy are
being used. It intends to help users think about what advocacy roles are best suited to their
organisational or individual capacity and advises on formats that could be used to present advocacy
messages.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/272472/38
16. A Guide to Gender and Malaria Resources
This guide, published by Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership and Kvinnoforum, provides information
on how gendered biological and social differences affect women both as malaria sufferers and as
principal caregivers. It looks at patterns of exposure resulting from occupation and role in the family,
malaria problems specific to pregnancy, and malaria and HIV/AIDS. The guide also offers
recommendations and identifies gaps in three areas: policy, research, and implementation.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/189594/38
TRAINING
http://www.comminit.com/en/africa/training.html
17. Malaria Prevention, Control and Management Course (Sep 15-26 2008) Nairobi, Kenya
This course, run by the African Media and Research Foundation (AMREF), is designed to provide an up-
date in clinical management, prevention, and control of malaria by providing theoretical knowledge
and practical skills.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/269619/38
===
For related previous issues of The Soul Beat see:
The Soul Beat 33 - Malaria Communication http://www.comminit.com/en/africa/soul-beat-33.html
The Soul Beat 62 - MDG # 6 - Combatting HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
http://www.comminit.com/en/africa/soul-beat-62.html
To view archived editions of The Soul Beat Newsletter see http://www.comminit.com/en/africa/soul-
beat-archives.html
===
We would love to hear from you: Please send us your comments by going to
http://www.comminit.com/en/africa/comments.html or email [log in to unmask]
For more comments on the Soul Beat Africa website see
http://www.comminit.com/en/africa/comments_aboutus.html
Please send material for The Soul Beat to [log in to unmask]
To subscribe, see http://www.comminit.com/en/africa/soul-beat-subscribe.html
To unsubscribe, reply to this message with "unsubscribe" as the subject.
--
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
|