Information: a veritable “mosquitocide”
25/07/2008
The Cameroon Coalition Against Malaria (CCAM) is involved in the fight against malaria using the advocacy approach. And by advocacy we mean the using of the support of key constituencies in order to influence policies and spending, and bring about social change. People who are involved in advocacy go about their jobs by building a persuasive case; they organise networks and coalitions to create a groundswell of support that can influence key decisions-makers. The media helps to communicate the message.
Information we are told, is power, and good information lays the foundation for successful advocacy. The journalist can only help lay the solid foundation for advocacy in the case of malaria if he gets close to the scientists or researchers to dig out credible information that documents the severity of the malaria burden and the effectiveness of the proposed solutions. Without such credible information it becomes difficult to start and sustain an advocacy campaign.
Apart from the health technicians, the population will rely on the media for information on Intermittent Preventive Treatment (in the case of pregnant women), or where to get insecticide-treated mosquito bed nets and where and how to have them treated. The media are expected to advice the people to visit a medical facility as soon as the symptoms of malaria appear. For the media men and women to play this role effectively, they must pay particular attention to two aspects: their language and the conception of the message.
The message they use must be presented in accessible, memorable, exciting and eye-catching way – both in terms of the language and the images we use. Policy makers need to hear simple message that clearly and quickly get to the heart of an issue. We need to conceive and shape messages about malaria that use compelling rhetoric and create a sense of urgency.
Policy-makers have certainly heard so much about malaria – what causes the disease, how it can be prevented and how it can be treated. To make them sit back, listen and react, we must therefore have the burning desire to say something they do not already know – something new or fresh. You must have wondered why a new disease like the Ebola fever received greater political interest than malaria which affects millions and have been around for a very long time. It is simply that the policy-makers heard things they had not come across before. This is not to say that the media in Cameroon have not been involved in the fight against malaria. This comment has been provoked by the result of a survey that was conducted in 2007 to find out if the media (both state own and private) in Cameroon where interested in malaria prevention and treatment in 2006. The results where, to say the least, very disappointing! If a similar survey were to be conducted in 2007, the situation will show some improvement, but not encouraging enough. The Cameroonian journalists have apparently learned to strike the notes their listeners/readers would want to “dance to”.
Otherwise, why are the newspapers focusing on politics all the time? Media practitioners in Cameroon no longer set the agenda. The readers and listeners do. Nobody can fault the journalist for going to the street to cover a protest march against the high cost of living; but the worry is that next time, he would not find demonstrators out there, not because they are not disturbing social issues, but simply due to the fact that malaria had either kept them at home or sent them to their graves.
Assisting in the fight against corruption is one way of promoting economic development. And contributing to the fight against malaria is another way for working for economic growth. When people stay away from work as a result of malaria, the economy suffers. When children cannot stay in school because of malaria, the future of the country is in jeopardy. There is therefore need for the journalist to go beyond covering malaria-related events, events which in themselves are very rare. We must look for innovative approaches to the fight against malaria.
It is the “social responsibility” of the media to join in this crusade against malaria, making sure that the right information is channelled to the right quarters and goes a long way to greatly reduce malaria burden in Cameroon.
