As I have mentioned in past posts, people all over the world are using social media websites to get healthy. Now, even the United Nations has joined in using social media to fight the spread of malaria in Africa. On March 15, the Special Envoy for Malaria at the United Nations announced a special Social Media Envoy group that will use social media to raise awareness and help eliminate the disease. A long list of famous “Tweeters” have pledged to make one social media action, such as a tweet, Facebook post, or blog entry every month for the next year starting from World Malaria Day on April 25.
Some notable people who have signed on in the social media fight include:
- Arianna Huffington, Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post
- Larry King, CNN Host of Larry King Live
- Ryan Seacrest, Entertainer & Host of American Idol
- Biz Stone, Co-founder of Twitter
- Alyssa Milano, Actress
- Kevin Rose, Founder of Digg
According to the UN’s press release regarding the new initiative, over 90 percent of malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Since 2007, over 190 million insecticidal mosquito nets have been delivered to the continent, covering nearly 400 million people or over 50 percent of the population, an increase from 10 percent in 2005. The UN hopes that raising awareness through social media will help generate more funding and aid to help protect the population from this epidemic.
This is a map of Malaria cases by country. As you can see, the disease is particularly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa.
It’s great that celebrities and media giants are getting involved, and I believe this will really have an impact on stopping the spread of the disease.Though social media has been used before to raise money for research into diseases that plague Americans, such as cancer and heart disease, this is the first UN envoy dedicated to using social media to combat a specific disease.
The Great Divide
Though I admire the people involved for dedicating themselves to this cause, the fact that they’re using social media really highlights the tremendous gap between Western nations and sub-Saharan Africa. Wealthy celebrities and public figures are using the latest technology to raise money for an area where few people have access to clean water, let alone a computer. Though the people reading these tweets and Facebook posts likely have no personal connection to malaria, they are the ones with the means and resources to help eradicate it.
Every Bit Counts
This new campaign makes me think about how even you and I can do little things to help, like blog about this issue to spread awareness, or make a small donation to the cause. To be honest, before hearing about the UN’s social media plan, I had not thought about the impact of malaria at all, so I guess the campaign is already doing its job. Hopefully, other regular people will join in the social media campaign to end malaria–whether it’s through a donation, volunteer work, or even a supportive tweet.
Healthy Living Through Social Media 