Malaria In The Media: What We Talked About In 2018 And What To Expect In 2019

Last month, we undertook a media analysis, utilizing our in-house analytics software, to better understand the global conversation on malaria in 2018. Our analysis revealed three malaria-related topics that attracted a greater share of media coverage than others: new tools for malaria diagnosis, a potential malaria vaccine, and concerns over drug-resistant malaria. All three of these topics point to the public’s interest in innovative health product solutions for ending malaria — and, these three interest areas are very much in line with BAAM’s core priorities and key messages. Similarly, the Global Fund to Fight HIV, Tuberculosis & Malaria’s new investment case for its Sixth Replenishment also highlights the need for innovations in diagnosis and treatment. This alignment of messaging from major multilateral institutions with key topics of media and public interest point to a valuable opportunity for BAAM to underscore its commitment to advocating for transformative innovations in the fight against malaria.

Conversation on malaria, predictably, spiked around World Malaria Day at the end of April. Based on analysis of the utilization rate of the word “malaria” and “paludisme” (the French word for malaria) on social media, we have put together a “heatmap” demonstrating where malaria attracted the most attention on social media across the year. The regions that have been the most actively talking about malaria in 2018 were North America, Western Europe, India, Indonesia, South…