AFRO-NETS> Blocking the good news on malaria

[Dieter Neuvians MD <neuvians@mweb.co.za>]

Blocking the good news on malaria
---------------------------------

The successful sequencing of two malaria-related genomes has been 
virtually ignored by the African media. Nothing better indicates the 
need to enhance science communication on the continent.

Last Friday?s issue of the Washington Post carried, like many leading 
newspapers in developed countries, a prominent story announcing the 
genetic sequencing of both the parasite that causes malaria and of 
the mosquito that transmits it to people. All such stories emphasised 
that the details of the sequence of these two organisms, published in 
the journals Science and Nature, opens up exciting new avenues for 
prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease. 

In sub-Saharan Africa  home to almost 90 per cent of the 300 million 
people who are infected by the disease each year  however, the cov-
erage was very different. The front pages of leading newspapers in 
cities like Kampala and Nairobi continued their coverage of local po-
litical stories. 

Where the malaria story was mentioned, it was given at most a rela-
tively short story on the inside pages, usually taken from a wire 
service. Some newspapers did not mention the story at all. Despite 
its potential relevance to large sectors of the population in the ar-
eas reached by these newspapers, there was little of the scientific 
or medical excitement that had permeated coverage in the developed 
world. 

Cultural discrepancies

The explanation  or rather explanations of this discrepancy lie at 
a number of levels. One is to do with cultural values. Breakthroughs 
in any form of science rarely generate significant coverage in the 
print or television media of developing countries, as they are often 
seen as remote from either the interests or immediate needs of the 
readers or viewers. Identification with political stories, in con-
trast, where the individuals and issues described are local and fa-
miliar, is seen as far more relevant. 


The values of the broader culture are echoed within the newspaper and 
broadcasting professions themselves. If science has a low value in 
society at large, it is little surprise that science journalists find 
this reflected within their working environment. Few recruits to the 
profession aspire to specialise in a field where they can seldom, if 
ever, expect to get front-page exposure, even for a story as poten-
tially significant as the sequencing of malaria-related genomes. 

Also, as mentioned previously in this column, there is the question 
of resources. Thanks partly to easy access to a range of electronic 
forms of communication, reporters in the developed world enjoy in-
stantaneous access to a wealth of information about new scientific 
discoveries, and to individuals prepared to comment on their signifi-
cance. Few reporters in the developing world, however, are able to do 
this, and thus miss out on the wide range of information available to 
the press on issues such as last week?s malaria story. 

The challenges of exploitation

All these handicaps have serious implications. According to leading 
Ugandan researcher, Thomas Egwang, the publication of the genomic se-
quences of the malaria parasite and the mosquito that transmits it, 
opens up the prospects of a range of new tools for malaria control. 
At the same time, however, it poses a challenge to African research-
ers to become active participants in exploiting this information (see 
?Genome sequencing raises malaria hope? 
http://www.scidev.net/frame3.asp?id=0310200210430251&t=N&authors=Kenn
eth%20Nwogbo&posted=3%20Oct%202002&c=1&r=1 ). 

This, in turn, requires convincing their leaders about the importance 
of investing substantial sums into post-genomic approaches to con-
fronting malaria. The gap is large. Two years ago, 44 out of the 50 
countries in Africa that are affected by malaria agreed to support 
the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) campaign. One of its goals was to ensure 
that 60 per cent of sufferers get immediate access to treatment. Yet 
an evaluation of RBM points out the many of the countries that made 
this commitment have virtually ignored it, and that only a small num-
ber have secured the funding and staffing needed to achieve this goal 
(see ?Weak leadership threatens anti-malaria drive? 
http://www.scidev.net/frame3.asp?id=0310200215115652&t=N&authors=Decl
an%20Butler&posted=3%20Oct%202002&c=1&r=1 ). 

Nothing could highlight more effectively the need for better science 
communication in Africa and, indeed, the rest of the developing 
world. Presenting information about new (and relevant) scientific 
breakthroughs in such countries is not an end in itself. Rather, 
working through a set of cultural and social processes, it is an es-
sential ingredient in building the political and economic support re-
quired to ensure that such breakthroughs are effectively exploited. 
This is particularly true if developing nations genuinely wish to en-
sure that this exploitation is done on their own doorsteps, and not 
by some foreign multinational corporation motivated more by the de-
mands of its shareholders than a desire to relieve suffering. 

A role for SciDev.Net Africa

By coincidence, the malaria story ?broke? on the final day of a work-
shop on science communication organised by SciDev.Net and held in En-
tebbe, Uganda, last week. One immediate spin-off was that we could 
organise a competition among the journalists present to write a news 
story for our own website. Several high quality entries were received 
a reflection of the talent that exists (but is frequently ignored) 
by newspapers in the region  making it difficult to select the even-
tual winner. Our congratulations go to Kenneth Nwogbo, a journalist 
at Nigeria's Daily Champion (see 'Genome sequencing raises malaria 
hope' 
http://www.scidev.net/frame3.asp?id=0310200210430251&t=N&authors=Kenn
eth%20Nwogbo&posted=3%20Oct%202002&c=1&r=1 ). 

The concluding day of the workshop also produced a ?consensus state-
ment? outlining the obstacles faced by science communicators in vari-
ous professions working in Africa, suggesting the potential contribu-
tions that various social and professional groups (including politi-
cians and media ?gatekeepers?) could make to improving this situa-
tion, and finally listing some concrete measures that could be taken 
by scientific communicators themselves (see ?Draft consensus state-
ment? http://www.scidevforum.net/forum/entebbe/thursday.html ). 

We intend these suggestions to form the backbone for the activities 
of SciDev.Net Africa the sub-Saharan regional network of SciDev.Net 
that was launched on the first day of the workshop. The relatively 
modest coverage of the malaria story by the African media underlines 
the importance of this initiative. As Egwang said in a presentation 
during the launch, part of the responsibility for moving forward lies 
with scientists themselves, particularly in a world where, he sug-
gested, "communicate or perish" is becoming one of the requirements 
of modern research. 

Overall responsibility is much broader than that, involving not only 
scientific institutions and academies, but also professional journal-
ists, information officers, and indeed policy makers at all levels. 
The first recommendation in the consensus statement is that all Afri-
can governments should introduce "comprehensive policies and strate-
gies on science communication into their national planning and re-
source allocation". There are other places to start as well. But this 
should certainly be one of the top priorities. 

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If you are interested in getting actively involved in SciDev.Net Af-
rica, please contact <editor@scidev.net>

© SciDev.Net 2002

David Dickson
mailto:editor@scidev.net
7 October 2002

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