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Neglected tropical diseases are invisible to the media

8 Jun 2008

Paul Chinnock

Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (see original article)

Using three neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) as examples, French and British researchers looked for media coverage of them in 11 leading publications. During a period of over four years, they found only 53 articles on their chosen diseases – African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, and Chagas disease.

The research, published in PLoS NTDs found that overall, the BBC had the highest coverage of the three diseases with 20 results, followed by the Financial Times and Agence France Presse. CNN had the least coverage with one result. Academic researchers were most commonly quoted in the articles as a main source, while the World Health Organization (WHO) and pharmaceutical industry were the least quoted.

The authors of the study believe that their findings reflect the situation for the neglected tropical diseases in general, whereas they note that media coverage of malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS has improved in recent years.

The researchers also interviewed nine journalists to obtain their perspectives of NTDs, news priorities and obstacles to coverage. The journalists generally agreed NTDs were not adequately covered, but said a lack of real news development and the need to cater to audiences in developed countries were major obstacles for NTD reporting. All journalists said health agencies, particularly WHO, were not communicating adequately about the burden of NTDs.

The study itself, however, has not been entirely neglected by the media. Its findings have been referred to in a number of online publications and also discussed in a blog in the Guardian.

Reference

1. Balasegaram M, Balasegaram S, Malvy D, Millet P (2008) Neglected Diseases in the News: A Content Analysis of Recent International Media Coverage Focussing on Leishmaniasis and Trypanosomiasis. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2(5): e234. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000234

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