Background to the Project
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Effective malaria control requires timely intervention in management of cases and control of epidemics. This has however been challenging due to poor reporting and information made available on malaria in most endemic countries. Most countries in Africa with areas at risk of highly seasonal or epidemic malaria need to include epidemic preparedness in their malaria control policies.
In Africa, weekly reporting of malaria cases is implemented currently in only 15 of the 25 epidemic prone countries (World Malaria Report, 2005). Similarly the change of malaria treatment policy from monotherapy to combination therapies as effective case management tools is still gaining grounds. The implementation of IPT (Intermittent preventive treatment) in pregnancy as effective tool is also being implemented in 26 African countries but several countries are still reviewing their policies to include these effective malaria control tools. Thus getting effective malaria interventions into policy in most endemic countries in Africa has remained a very big challenge. Whereas malaria scientists are able to publish their findings in peer review journals, it is difficult to penetrate the policy arena with these findings to make an impact on malaria to save the lives of billions affected by malaria.
This clearly advocates for a new approach to presenting scientific findings with the aim to influencing policy within Africa. AMMREN seeks to use the media (television, radio, press) to identify and analyse the key issues in malaria policy change, analyse the context within which these policies are made and identify the key actors who need to be influenced to bring about change in malaria policy. This will be done through a key and innovative strategy, the ‘Eyes on Malaria’ initiative.
The News Magazine Project (Eyes on Malaria) seeks to capture the voices of those who are closely involved in the battle against malaria in an upbeat journalistic tone with the aim to influencing change among malaria endemic communities and policy makers.
