UK Media See Ethiopia’s Malaria’s Success
22 May 2008
UK journalists were taken on a malaria field visit to Ethiopia in April 2008 to see how the country has scaled up their malaria programme, with a 50 percent reduction in deaths from the disease in the past three years. The Lancet, BBC and BMJ took part in a four day programme of visits and meetings in Ethiopia which included seeing how the country’s Health Extension Workers programme has impacted on malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Meetings with the Ministry of Health, DFID, Ethiopian Coalition Against Malaria, the President’s Malaria Initiative and the Coalition of Media Against Malaria Coalition Ethiopia provided an opportunity for the journalists to increase their knowledge of the issues the country is facing, how they are making progress and what the future holds to maintain success. A team of journalists from Amhara Mass media agency joined the British journalists on the site visit South Achefer District in the Amhara regional state and in meetings to share experiences of covering malaria issues within a development context. Timed to link to World Malaria Day, the BBC ran two pieces on the World Service on 25th April, and the Lancet did a Podcast on the Ethiopia trip as well as an Editorial looking at where next for malaria. In-depth features on the visit will shortly appear in The Lancet and BMJ. Meanwhile, EAAM work with the FT and the Lancet resulted in articles on AMFm linked to a pilot programme in Tanzania.
