- abcnews.go.com/Health/GlobalHealth/dr-bessers-notebook-shot-save-hearing/story?id=13080818#.TyxAWsU7U1I
- abcnews.go.com/Health/GlobalHealth/dr-bessers-notebook-african-village-faces-pneumonia/story?id=13156210#.TyxAMMU7U1J
- abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/vaccine-save-africas-children-14644444
- abcnews.go.com/Health/video/dr-besser-visits-polio-ward-delhi-india-12984355
Provide names of other journalists involved.
Matt Green, Magnus Macedo, Karl Dawson, Ben Barnier, Dana Hughes, Wilfred Wambura, Ann Reynolds, James Mitchell, Trevor Barker, Freddy George, Joel Herson, Jennifer Chambers, Mollie Riegger
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
“Stopping a Killer Threat: Can Polio Finally Be Wiped Out?” 2/27 “One Man’s Fight Against an Epidemic: Meningitis A” 05/30 “Vaccine Save Africa’s Children” 09/30
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
ABC News Chief Health and Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser documented how life-saving vaccines are bringing hope to the world’s poorest countries. In Kibera, the largest slum in Africa, we meet mothers desperate for the new pneumonia vaccine. But as our cameras roll, a fire erupts, creating chaos in narrow alleyways outside the clinic, as the slum’s residents run with their most prized possessions. The narrative highlights the day-to-day struggle many families face just to get by, often preventing them from accessing the medical care they so badly need. In Burkina Faso, in the heart of the Meningitis Belt, Dr. Besser meets three siblings, all of whom are deaf from Meningitis A. They are cared for by their single mother; their father abandoned the family when the children got sick. But these children may be some of the last victims; a Meningitis A vaccine is now available for the first time, the only vaccine ever created for a disease found just in Africa. And in India, Dr. Besser meets a small boy who suddenly became paralyzed; was the cause the deadly polio virus? And if so, how do health officials effectively combat this silent and fast-moving virus? Dr. Besser, a pediatrician who has published research on the virus, chronicles the massive efforts underway to eradicate a virus lurking in just a few pockets of the world while threatening everyone until it is gone for good. As part of our coverage, there were a substantial number of companion pieces on our website abcnews.com and our global health website saveone.net. A small sampling of reporter’s notebooks, web exclusive versions of stories and web extra videos are also submitted as links at the end of this form.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
All statistics are sourced from top-line medical journals and organizations like the World Health Organization. No FOI or public records were required.
Explain types of human sources used.
In each of the three pieces, Dr. Besser is joined in the field by a top physician and researcher on that topic. In our Polio story, Dr. Hamid Jafari, the head of the World Health Organization’s National Polio Surveillance Project in New Delhi guides viewers through a paralysis investigation and details the intensive work being done to combat Polio. When we returned to the United States, Dr. Besser sat down with Dr. D.A. Henderson, the man credited with eradicating smallpox to see if eradication of Polio is even possible. In Burkina Faso, Dr. Marc LaForce, the head of the Meningitis Vaccine Project joins us as we see his mission at work first- hand to vaccinate millions of people against the strain of Meningitis that only afflicts Africans. And in Kenya, Dr. Daniel Feikin, Executive Director of the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) returned to a place he lived for many years, to guide Dr. Besser through the alleyways of Africa’s biggest slum, Kibera, to see the real people who are in desperate need of this life-saving vaccine. Each of the stories also profiles real families that suffer from Meningitis A, fear Polio or Pneumonia, helping to drive home the importance of the work being done and to depict just what is at stake.
Results:
Our viewers throughout the year donated more than $1.5 million to organizations featured in our division-wide “Be the Change: Save a Life” series through our partner Global Giving.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
it is our responsibility as global journalists to share with the world stories that are rarely told while celebrating the work of unsung heroes whose tireless work improves the lives of forgotten people. Look for the small stories that depict the big issue and our audiences are compelled to take action.