2015
Malaria Mobilizers: Behind the numbers
The hardest part of the Social Media Awards was narrowing a list of 51 dedicated malaria advocates down to a handful of finalists, and then to the six winners. The process was at once inspiring – as we delved into the work, life stories, and endorsements of some amazing people – and difficult, as we only had room for six!
Even after the process was over, there were three individuals we felt compelled to note in a special way. Why? These three malaria heroes managed to garner a staggering 2261 votes altogether. Though numbers don’t tell the whole story, they certainly point to a broad network of support and the potential of social media to mobilize interest in the fight against malaria.
Let’s look at these Malaria Mobilizers in more detail:
Obinna Ebirim is a doctor in Nigeria, and a strong advocate for vaccines and malaria prevention. Prolific on Twitter, Dr. Ebirim highlights the latest research on a variety of Africa-related health concerns, especially advances in vaccination research. A must-follow for global health advocates, his Twitter feed provides a diverse range of Tweets, retweets, and news stories. Of special interest is the way he often links health and development concerns together. For example, the following Tweet identifies climate change as a key concern in the fight against malaria:
To #defeatmalaria we also need to deal wit #climatechange that increases Malaria distribution @UNFCCC @estherclimate pic.twitter.com/zu01q9iNjD
— Dr. Ebirim Obinna (@ebirimobinna) November 22, 2015
Nominated for the Awards in the Africa region category, Dr. Ebirim gained an amazing 564 votes. Perhaps even more impressive, a whopping 198 comments were left, lauding his role as a leader and passionate advocate. He was noted repeatedly for his service to communities fighting malaria, his leadership, and his deep knowledge of issues facing sub-Saharan Africa.
Follow Obinna on Twitter, and learn about his career on LinkedIn.
Naomi Kodama is a truly a young leader in the fight against malaria. An advocate with UN’s “Nothing But Nets” malaria eradication campaign, Naomi started at the young age of eight. Traveling around the world to spread the “buzz” about malaria, she has spoken at high schools, international conferences, and at the UN and UNICEF headquarters.
As an indicator of her impact around the world, 703 people stopped by her SMAs profile page to cast a vote for her as a Young Leader. 194 of those people took time to congratulate her and leave a comment as to why they’re convinced she is a malaria hero. And most of them weren’t from her home in Missouri, USA: Fans from all over the world dropped by to share how Naomi inspires them. From just a few pages of comments, we came across folks from Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Columbia, Canada, Australia, Tunisia, India, South Africa, Mali, Honduras, Germany, Gabon, Botswana, and Curaçao. She truly has made an international impact in the fight against malaria, and we look forward to following her future career. Kudos, Naomi!
Follow Naomi on Facebook and Twitter. Learn more about her and Nothing But Nets through this video.
By the numbers, the runaway winner is Oluwamayowa Salu, with a final tally of 994 endorsements for his nomination as a Young Leader in the Awards. With years of experience in fighting malaria, Salu founded and leads the Iba Foundation, an organization that seeks innovative ways to eradicate malaria in Africa. The Iba team has created a malaria mobile app, a malaria comic book, and an annual “Kick Out Malaria” event, impacting hundreds of thousands of people.
Salu’s work in malaria is inspired by his own lifelong fight with the disease. As a child, he and his brother would hide under a tattered mosquito net, but still get the disease. In this interview with the Young African Leaders Initiative, he calls for innovation to go beyond bed nets – essential to reduce infection – to include environmental sanitation and education. A role model to other young leaders, Salu has mobilized hundreds of youth volunteers through social media to conduct community clean-ups and net distribution.
With over 110 comments on his Social Media Awards profile, a theme emerges: Salu has extraordinary passion and savvy to fight malaria. He uses all means available against the disease, and has a knack for inspiring others to join the fight. With a personal connection to malaria, Salu makes a personal difference in the lives of countless Nigerians.
Check out Salu’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as his organization’s website.
