May 16, 2006

Hopefully, I have included something for almost everyone: bursaries, training, news, some interesting resources - have a quick look at the health journalists resource quarterly in section 5 - if you get a chance.

Our nurse from Texas, Lucky Lukiah, wrote in to let us know that they are motivating the local community to assist with Uganda's run-down and neglected Sickle-cell clinic.

How about a health news service for your station or newspaper? New listserv member,  Lexi Bambas Nolen, from the Centre for the Advancement of Health, in Washington, wants your feedback on this new proposal

Keep writing, and let us know when and if you are selected for any of the aformentioned bursaries, etc..

Colin Lloyd, Moderator, South Africa

1. Contributions

+ Proposed Health News Service needs your input

Lexi Bambas Nolen, PhD, Consultant, Center for the Advancement of Health, Washington, DC, USA

The Center for the Advancement of Health and the Cochrane Center in South Africa are conducting a feasibility study on whether a health news service would be useful to African media outlets. We're starting in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria by interviewing health journalists (print and broadcast) as well as those who work with and support them to get their feedback on the idea of a health news service.
 
I'm contacting this listserve to find out if any of you would agree to an interview for the feasibility study, or could direct me to journalists and editors/producers in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa who work in print and broadcast media. It would be especially useful if interviewees cover the health beat, but it is not necessary.
 
For more details:  newsservice.html

If you are interested in an interview, please contact me at lexibambas@hotmail.com I will send you the interview questions, which will take about 10 minutes to complete. Please note that our deadline for receiving interviews has been extended until May 16 in order to get additional feedback from journalists and editors.
 
If you have time to participate, we would very much value your feedback! Our goal is to make the news service as useful to journalists as possible, and to complement existing efforts to support African journalists covering health issues from a scientific perspective.

+ Update on fundraising for Sickle Cell Clinic in Uganda

Hello every one! Our meeting has been extended to June 3rd 2006. This is when we are going to present the information about sickle cell disease in Uganda to a group of people.

Also, our contact person in Virginia has already distributed about 100 brochures, we have sent out about 50. We will apply for the grants after receiving the EIN authorization number from the government. My husband is going to fax the required information to obtain the EIN tommorrow.

Keep your fingers crossed. It seems like people are very supportive. We are in for all the HELP we can get for the sickle cell clinic in Uganda.

Yusupha Bojang, Journalist, Gambia

Thank for the information on malaria.. and I wish this malaria treatment will be made available to Gambians as well as the Kenyans. (reference:  www.healthandmedia.org/may04_06.htm ) We shall stand firm to fight malaria world-wide until this disease is completely eliminated.

2. Health News

+ Nigeria: Lambo Launches New Anti-Malaria Policy

Regional Head, (West Africa), Novartis Pharma Services, Mr. Jerry Ogbonna has advocated for reduction in the prices of Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACTs) just as Minister of Health, Prof. Eyitayo Lambo announced that the 2.5 million doses of Coartem (Artemether + Lumefantrine) brand of ACTs procured by Federal government as first line treatment for malaria have been distributed to 18 states in the country.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200605020172.html

+ Information Gap Challenges Zanzibar's Antimalaria Campaign

http://allafrica.com/stories/200605120243.html

Media Practitioners from Cameroon, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe and England were recently tutored on HIV/AIDS reporting at a two-day seminar in Limbe, on the topic: HIV/AIDS: Communication for Behavioural Change

The seminar was organised by World Association For Christian Communication Africa Region-WACC-AR.On The Challenge of HIV/AIDS: The Role of the Cameroon Media, Henry Muluh, Head of Department, Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Buea, challenged the media practitioners to embark on ground breaking reporting on HIV/AIDS.

Taking anti-tuberculosis treatment at the same time as antiretroviral therapy does not reduce the virological success rate of anti-HIV treatment, a retrospective study published in the May 15th edition of The Journal of Infectious Diseases has found. The investigators, from London, also found that patients who took anti-tuberculosis and anti-HIV therapy at the same time had a similar rate of tuberculosis (TB) recurrence to that of HIV-negative patients treated for tuberculosis.

In a bold move, African leaders meeting in Abuja have unequivocally demonstrated their commitment to accelerating access to HIV/AIDS, TBand malaria services in the next five years. Meeting in Abuja this week, at the Heads of State Summit to review progress towards the
implementation of the Abuja Declaration on ATM and other related infectious diseases, leaders adopted ambitious continental targets for implementation of programmes addressing the three diseases.

HIV/AIDS journalism internships set for June and August10/05/2006
A series of one-month internships are geared toward helping Nigerian journalists improve their coverage of HIV and AIDS. Application deadline: May 19.

Projekthope, a Nigerian NGO, is organizing the program, which begins in May and continues until August. Broadcast, online and print journalists are eligible, including photojournalists. The internships last four weeks, with the journalists working one day per week in the office of NigeriaHIVinfo.com.

During the internships, the journalists will produce stories on HIV and AIDS for the Web site as well as their home newsroom. They also will be working with an in-house journalism trainer from Journalists for Human Rights, a Canada-based NGO, to improve their reporting skills.
For details visit http://www.nigeriahivinfo.com/hjp/

Applications for the Transitional Justice Fellowship Program – a funded, three-month residential fellowship in Cape Town, South Africa – are being invited from eligible individuals in any field (including but not limited to human rights advocacy, law, journalism, research, etc). Deadline for applications is 1 June 2006.

+ NAHIP HIV Prevention Conference: Sustaining the Momentum

African Communities and HIV, May 18-19/  London, UK,, May.18 - 19

+ International AIDS Candlelight Memorial, Worldwide, May.21

+ Project Concern International's 2006 Africa Forum,

"The Dual Epidemics of HIV/AIDS and Food Insecurity," May 8-12
Host: Project Concern International in Lusaka, Zambia

+ Ideas for Journalists writing on HIV/AIDS

Focus on HIV offers reporters a snapshot of cutting edge issues related to HIV and suggestions to explore them. This quarterly resource is produced by Gilead Sciences.

Download this one page pdf file: http://www.gilead.com/focusonhiv.pdf