PBS shows examine door-to-door medical counseling in Rwanda, malaria in Tanzania

Sep 21 2009

NOW on PBS recently aired a segment examining a project in Rwanda, which is a collaboration of the government and Partners in Health, that uses local doctors, nurses and villagers "to deliver medicine and medical counseling door-to-door." According to the show, "In rural Rwanda, the simple and time-tested idea of medical house calls is not only improving the health of the community, but stimulating its economy as well."

Web-only features include a reporter's notebook, which highlights the reporter's travels in Rwanda; a slideshow; and a video and transcript of an interview with Rwandan President Paul Kagame (Brancaccio, 9/11).

On Thursday, PBS' NewsHour aired a show examining the fight against malaria in Tanzania, which is the the third installment of a series about health issues in the country. The show includes an interview with U.S. Global Malaria Coordinator Tim Ziemer.

A related reporter's notebook discusses an experimental malaria vaccine, which is being tested at Bagamoyo hospital, and other methods that are being used to fight malaria in the Tanzania. "This area has already made remarkable progress in combating malaria, which had been widespread and deadly here. In villages surrounding Bagamoyo there were malaria infection rates as high as 80 percent. Some of the worst-affected villages now have rates approaching 10 percent prevalence. Addressing the density of infected humans, it turns out, is an easier way to fight malaria than trying to wipe out mosquitoes," senior correspondent Ray Suarez writes (Suarez, 9/17).