Novartis blog post, tweet writing contest on malaria on

MANILA, Philippines - To spread the word about the prevention and treatment of malaria and help build the coalition to ease the global malaria burden, research-based healthcare company Novartis and Malaria No More, a non-governmental organization committed to ending malaria deaths in Africa, have launched the “World Briefing: Telling the Malaria Story Contest.”

Malaria is a highly preventable and treatable disease yet, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly one million people die from malaria each year, mostly children.

It remains a major public health concern in the Philippines, where Department of Health data show that the mosquito-borne disease is prevalent in 58 of the country’s 80 provinces, mostly in the poorest municipalities.

The World Briefing: Telling the Malaria Story Contest is open to graduate students up to 35 years old currently enrolled at an accredited university in the United States, Argentina, Ecuador, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Venezuela, and the Philippines.

To enter the contest, contestants must:

• Develop a blog post of 500 words or less, in English, that focuses on the current malaria burden and ways in which their generation can make progress in the fight against malaria. There are specific mandatory and additional optional topics that must be covered in the blog post. 

• Develop a tweet, or sentence of 140 characters or less, explaining why they should win the contest.

The contestants must send their statement, tweet, and official documentation to [email protected] on or before April 30.

For full details of the contest mechanics, log on to www.worldbriefing.org or www.novartis.com.ph.

Between May 1 and 12, representatives of Novartis and Malaria No More will evaluate all of the submissions and select the top six entries (two from each of the following regions: Latin America/Asia; Europe; and the United States).

Between May 12 and 26, the top six submissions will be posted on Malaria No More’s contest website (www.worldbriefing.org), at which time the general public will have the opportunity to review and vote for their favorite entry.

A group of judges from across the globe comprised of representatives of Novartis, Malaria No More, and/or a college professor or journalist will determine the three winners based on a weighted formula that considers the votes of the group and the general public. The three winners will be announced the week of May 31.

The three winners will travel with the Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. team to a malaria-endemic country in Africa in September, October or November 2010.

They will have an opportunity to meet officials of the Ministry of Health and National Malaria Control Program and learn about current efforts underway to control malaria.

They will also have the chance to travel to local clinics, meet physicians, healthcare workers, patients and leaders of the Novartis Malaria Initiatives team and Malaria No More. 

“We encourage Filipino graduate students to join the contest and do their share in promoting public awareness on malaria prevention and treatment,” said Eric van Oppens, president and CEO of Novartis Healthcare Philippines.

“This contest is part of the Novartis commitment to help ease the global disease burden of malaria,” said Christine Liwanag, corporate affairs and market access director of Novartis Healthcare Philippines.

Novartis provides its proven-effective anti-malarial drug artemether/lumefantrine without profit through multilateral institutions and public-private partnerships.

The company has cumulatively delivered 300 million anti-malaria treatments, helping save about 750,000 lives.

Since 2002, Novartis in partnership with WHO has provided over 172,260 treatments to Filipino patients at cost, saving an estimated 43,000 lives.