London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

A popular radio soap opera, chronicling the day-to-day lives of a group of rural Gambians and very much like the English radio show 'the Archers', is helping to educate Gambians about how they can avoid contracting malaria.

The soap opera is one of a number of innovative ideas from a partnership forged between Tesito, a UK based charitable organisation, and the Gates Malaria Partnership (GMP), established in September 2000 with nine member institutions and with funds from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Staff and researchers from the GMP, which is based at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, have been working closely with scriptwriters from Radio 4 to ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of the messages being conveyed.

The GMP, which is at the cutting edge of scientific and operational research into malaria prevention, control and management, has also inspired seventy TV, press and radio journalists in Tanzania and Malawi to join the campaign against malaria by lobbying governments and disseminating malaria control messages to the general public.

Sunday 25 April is the fourth annual Africa Malaria Day, which marks the anniversary of the historic signing on 25 April 2000 of the Abuja Declaration, whereby African Heads of State and Governments committed themselves to achieving specific targets on malaria prevention and control by 2005. The theme this year is 'A Malaria-Free Future', which the slogan for this year's commemoration is 'Children for Children to Roll Back Malaria'. This slogan has been chosen to highlight the impact of malaria on children (the disease is the number one killer of children in Africa) and to provide children with an opportunity to make their voices heard to those in power, including adults, parents, decision-makers and the media.

Brian Greenwood, Director of the GMP, comments: 'The Gates Malaria Partnership is fighting to win the battle against malaria, which is responsible for over a million deaths, and between 300 and 500 million new clinical cases, every year.

'Half of humanity is currently at risk from malaria, with developing countries, and particularly Africa, shouldering virtually all of the burden. Today, on Africa Malaria Day, we are calling on national governments and all donors to prioritise resources in a concerted effort to limit the devastating human and economic impact of this disease'.

For further information, please contact Heather Naylor, GMP Manager on 020 7299 4709/4712.