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At UN, Malaria Week is Nothing But Nets, Sri Lankan Lessons on the Margins

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, April 25 -- It's World Malaria Day, or rather Week, and it is impolitic to question the series of feel-good announcements, from the Bush Administration, religious denominations and the United Nations. The UN on April 24 circulated Secretary-General BAN's planned remarked, which spoke of ending malaria deaths by 2010, with a reference to "full coverage." Once this headline got reported, the UN more quietly clarified that malaria deaths, even in this scenario, will continue after 2010. The "full coverage" refers only to bed nets, casting the buzzword of the week, Nothing But Nets, in a new light.

The figure given at the joint UNICEF / UN Foundation press conference on April 23 was that 250 million nets are needed, of which 700,000 have so far been acquired. UNICEF's Ann Veneman was asked by a South Asian correspondent about the quiet rising in the net price of nets from three dollars, a figure the correspondent said was used by the ubiquitous Jeffrey Sachs, to the new figure of ten dollars, cited by none other than the NBA's David Stern. They are better nets, Ms. Veneman answered. They better be bigger, too -- the UN says that 250 million net will serve 500 million people. For those counting, that two people for each net.

More than 24 hours after the press conference, UNICEF issued its own press release, that "Yesterday, the agency announced a partnership with religious, business and sports leaders to supply insecticide-treated bed nets for Africa. 'Nothing But Nets,' a grassroots campaign created in 2006 by the UN Foundation (UNF) to raise awareness about malaria, helps fund the distribution of life-saving bed nets."

Inner City Press asked a question about the follow-through on these announcements. If, as happened in Sri Lanka, campaigns against malaria stop before the end, the disease can return and ravage a population that no longer develops immunity. In Sri Lanka now, over 10,000 people die of the disease every year, according to The Economist. (The UN's IRIN disagrees.)  Ms. Veneman answered that these new and more expensive nets are chemical treated and last from three to five  years.

Inner City Press asked the same question to Ray Chambers, BAN's envoy on malaria, previously a financier with WESRAY Capital. Chambers, who reportedly complained to UN staff about previous questioning of his dropping off other corporate boards, responded and then went and spoke at length in the Delegate's Dining Room, complete with scripted Q&A with World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan. He said, "the first question is for you, Doctor Chan," then read out a softball question. "Good question, Ray," she said. And it went from there.

Mock mosquito at newsless conference, Ann Veneman not shown

While Ms. Veneman's answers, which have been infrequent every since the controversial hand-over by UNICEF of the UN's North Lawn to Gucci and Madonna, were appreciated. But she might want to review the April 24 briefing given by her counterpart at the World Food Program, 55 minutes on any topic reporters wanted to ask, including speculation on food prices and critiques of WFP's procurement and transportation spending. If you run a UN agency, these are the questions you should answer. We'll see.

Footnote: Since Inner City Press' question about Sri Lanka was asked on behalf of the wider press corps, this too must be noted: at the time slated for the beginning of the UN Foundation press conference -- featuring UNICEF! -- the first two rows of seats marked "reserved," not for journalists but assorted entourages. In the room were bed net manufacturers and, at the thirteenth hour, a man dressed up as a mosquito. Who approved these things? And, a number of reporters wanted to know, who thought there was news in the April 23 news conference? We are showing we have new partnerships, one of the proponents protested. Only at the UN.

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These reports are usually also available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis.

Click here for a Reuters AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click here for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund.  Video Analysis here

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