Student wins $1,500 malaria campaign prize

By Isabella Tugume and Taddeo Bwambale                       

What started as clicks on a Facebook page set up to generate ideas on ways to eradicate malaria in Uganda, has earned a 23-year-old Makerere University student a sh4m prize.

Felix Mwebe, an intern at UNICEF emerged the first winner of the Malaria-Free Uganda campaign, an initiative of the ministry of health and Pilgrim Africa, an international NGO.

The campaign offers a platform for the public to discuss ideas that will help eliminate malaria in Uganda within the next fifteen years, Anthony Esenu, the organisation’s vice president said.

 “We believe Uganda can be a Malaria-free nation when a critical mass of people gain increased awareness and interest in making this concept a reality,” he stated.

To win the prize, entrants are required to ‘like’ the Malaria-Free Uganda Facebook page and invite six friends.

Participants are then required to post their views regularly on the page, explaining how Uganda can eradicate malaria.

Mwebe (right), who received the cash prize at the Pilgrim Africa offices in Kampala on Thursday, said he was a regular contributor to the forum.

During the two-month period of the campaign that was launched on May 15, a $1,500 prize will be given out to one winner every after two weeks, Esenu said.

The campaign targets at least 100,000 Ugandans who are required to suggest ways through which Uganda can achieve Malaria-free status.

Outgoing health minister and now senior presidential adviser on health, Dr Christine Ondoa said the campaign was an important tool for raising awareness on Malaria prevention and control.

In Uganda, Malaria is responsible for up to 110,000 deaths every year and remains the largest killer of children under the age of five.

Ondoa challenged the youth to take the lead in raising awareness about Malaria using innovative approaches.

“The Government may come up with good programmes leading to elimination of Malaria, but they may not be successful if people don’t participate in them,” she said.