Young Leader Malaria Hero winner: Lazarus Eze
About the Award
New perspectives, ideas and idealism often come from some of our youngest leaders. This category shines a spotlight on individuals under 30 who use social media to actively encourage sharing and dialogue on malaria, helping us all to see the challenges and opportunities around us in fresh ways.
About Lazarus Eze
Dr. Eze is a public health physician, policy advocate, and consultant on youth development issues. He is known for his passionate advocacy for health promotion in many areas, including reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, youth health, and community outreach. He currently works as the Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer with the Association for Reproductive and Family Health, and leads efforts to strengthen health data management systems in 5 Nigerian States in support of the Global Fund’s malaria program.
In 2013, he initiated the use of the hashtag #BeatMalaria to create awareness and share resources on malaria prevention and management. His prolific malaria advocacy straddles all media types, including social media, print, television, and radio. Through this social media campaign, he has reached thousands of people with messages about the health and socioeconomic impact of malaria and strategies for combatting the disease.
Dr. Eze doesn’t differentiate between his personal life and public work when it comes to malaria advocacy. At his wedding, Dr. Eze and his wife passed out insecticide-treated mosquito nets to their guests, and proceeded to demonstrate their proper use.
Find out more about Dr. Eze’s approach to social media advocacy in this recent interview, and keep up with his work on Twitter and Facebook.
Selected comments from supporters
Lightly edited for clarity
- “Laz is a passionate Public health physician who is totally sold out to the malaria eradication project. He consistently uses his social media platforms to advocate for effective health care delivery and particularly malaria prevention and control. His #BeatMalaria campaign is noteworthy and highly commendable.” (Bamidele Ayodele)
- “With his #BeatMalaria campaign, Don Laz has been amazingly evangelistic in spreading the gospel of the fight against malaria, with an unconventional strategy to preach this gospel. He has not been rigid about it, but has ensured that supporters, sponsors, and beneficiaries own the project. In making it theirs, they have helped spread the impact of the work that Lazarus does. The project was launched on a tech-based platform, and he has pursued its implementation, using every social media tool available.” (Kenneth Kolo)
- “This man chases malaria from Nigeria, especially amongst young people. His hashtag #beatmalaria remains a must-connect for young people seeking to remain malaria-free.”
- “Dr. Laz is an exceptional Public Health expert who has promoted the use of social media to create awareness about how to #BeatMalaria in Nigeria and the entire African continent. I wholeheartedly nominate him for this award.” (Suleiman Yakubu)
- “Having known him from high school, Dr. Laz has been an achiever on all fronts and a mentor to those of us who are much younger in the sector.” (Humphrey Ejiofor)
Check out Laz's interview with Tim France below, as well as the amazing custom illustration (click image for larger version):
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About the Young Leaders partner: Malaria No More
Malaria No More (MNM) is a non-profit organization working to end malaria deaths by engaging leaders, rallying the public, and delivering life-saving tools and education to families across Africa.
Follow updates from Malaria No More on Twitter and Facebook.
More about Lazarus Eze
