AN ASSESSMENT OF THE PRINT MEDIA IN THE PROMOTION OF THE ROLL BACK MALARIA CAMPAIGN IN NIGERIA

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE PRINT MEDIA IN THE PROMOTION OF THE ROLL BACK MALARIA CAMPAIGN IN NIGERIA

chapter One

Foreword

1.1 Research background

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infection affecting humans and other animals caused by parasitic protozoa (a group of single-celled microorganisms) belonging to the Plasmodium type. Malaria causes typical symptoms such as fever, fatigue, vomiting and headache. Severe cases can cause yellowing of the skin, seizures, coma, and even death. Symptoms usually begin 10 to 15 days after the bite. If the disease is not treated properly, the disease can recur months later. Reinfection usually relieves symptoms in people who have recently recovered from infection. This partial resistance disappears in months to years if the person is not continuously exposed to malaria.

The disease is most commonly transmitted by infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. Mosquito bites transfer the parasites into the human blood through the mosquito’s saliva (Beare, 2011). The parasite moves to the liver, where it matures and multiplies. Five types of malaria parasites can infect and transmit humans. P. vivax, P. ovale and P. Malaria generally causes milder forms of malaria (Hartman, 2010). P. knowlesi species rarely cause disease in humans. Malaria is usually diagnosed by microscopic examination of blood with blood smears or rapid antigen-based tests. Methods to detect parasite DNA using the polymerase chain reaction have been developed but have not been used in areas where malaria is common due to cost and complexity (Collins, 2012). According to Aguwa (2009.p,33), malaria kills a child every minute somewhere in the world. About 219 million people (154 million to her 289 million) are infected each year and an estimated 660,000 die, mostly African children. Ninety percent of her malaria deaths occur in Africa, where malaria accounts for about one-sixth of all child deaths. The disease is also a leading cause of anemia in childhood and a major cause of poor growth and development. (Abouzar, 2009)

In 1998, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), and the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF), with the welcome and necessary goal of halving the number of deaths from malaria, launched a roll. Buck co-founded his malaria movement. By 2010 – his first major effort in 40 years against the disease. The need for such efforts is very clear.
Malaria is a major burden in sub-Saharan Africa, causing 300 million acute illnesses and 1 million deaths each year, more than 70% of whom are children or pregnant women.

Roll Back Malaria was initiated to promote effective control strategies to combat this disease. This emphasizes rapid detection and treatment of clinical cases, use of insecticide-treated bed nets, treatment of malaria during pregnancy, and centralized management of malaria infections during emergencies or epidemics. RBM’s goal is to scale up the use of these interventions in all countries where malaria is endemic, especially in sub-Saharan Africa,

Despite 50 years of global malaria control, more people are dying of malaria than when these campaigns began. On May 13, 1998, Gro Harlem Brundtland announced that one of her priorities as Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) was a new effort to “retreat malaria.” . The aim is to tackle malaria in new ways. The main focus is to strengthen health services so that effective treatment and prevention strategies are accessible to all who need them. Rollback malaria is not just another attempt to eradicate the disease. Instead, the goal is to halve malaria-related mortality by 2010, and by 2015. This would consolidate and strengthen all malaria-related activities across the health sector, rather than a separate entity “bolted” to existing health services. It is not only based on new technology. Instead, it uses existing tools more effectively and builds on past experience (failures and successes alike). This is not just an ambitious public health initiative. It may also begin to break down the artificial barriers that have arisen between disease control professionals and health system professionals.

Print media serve as a source of cultural, political, health and other educational and awareness programs for the masses, leading them to self-actualization and national development (Ellinas, 2010). Print media is a communication medium that allows individuals to share the world beyond their surroundings and immediate environment. Print media informs the public about new social issues. Topics such as health, politics, economics and current affairs will be broadcast to raise awareness. Media act as a means of social mobilization, motivating people to achieve specific goals based on their perception of their rights and responsibilities to society (Cohen, 2001).