AAAS, GAVI, PATH and The Vaccine Fund wish to thank the many outstanding science reporters from Africa who applied for this program.
Five science reporters were selected by the program's review committee. Winners of the 2005 competition are:
- Celeste Tema, South African Broadcasting Corporation
Tema has worked as a radio reporter for the past seven years, and has specialized in science for the past two years. Her stories are translated into South Africa's eleven official languages and broadcast throughout the country. - Mzati Nkolokosa, The Nation, Malawi
Nkolokosa, who has three years of experience as a reporter, aspires to specialize in health reporting, especially in the area of HIV/AIDS. He cites "lack of resources and training" as one of the greatest challenges to his career. - Zablon Odhiambro, Biosafety News, Kenya
Odhiambro, who has been working as a science reporter for the past five years, hopes that he can help to "alleviate global problems" by responsibly reporting science and technology developments throughout Africa. - Nurat Miquidade, Radio Mozambique
Miquidade has worked as a radio reporter for nine years. Her stories are broadcast in Portuguese throughout Mozambique. - Pape Sambe Boubacar, Jeune Afrique Economie, Senegal
Boubacar writes for the French-language magazine Jeune Afrique Economie, where he covers science and health, among other topics.
The winners will receive support to travel to Washington, DC, from 17 February until 21 February, to report and train at the 2005 AAAS Annual Meeting, America's largest general science conference. The winners' coverage of the 2005 AAAS Annual Meeting will be posted to EurekAlert!'s multi-language portal, online at www.eurekalert.org/language.
Airfare, hotel costs, meals and other travel expenses will be fully covered by the AAAS fellowships, sponsored by GAVI, PATH and The Vaccine Fund.
Some 1,200 press registrants from around the world are expected to cover the AAAS Meeting this year. The AAAS Fellowships for Reporters from Developing Regions, a program now in its second year, is intended to encourage outstanding young science reporters.
About GAVI and The Vaccine Fund
The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) is a public-private partnership focused on increasing access to vaccines among children in poor countries. Partners include national governments, UNICEF, WHO, The World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the vaccine industry, public health institutions and NGOs. The Vaccine Fund is the financing resource created to support the GAVI immunization goals, providing financial support directly to low-income countries to strengthen their health delivery and immunization services and to purchase new and under-used vaccines.
About the Rotavirus Vaccine Program at PATH
The Rotavirus Vaccine Program aims to reduce child morbidity and mortality from diarrheal disease by accelerating the availability of rotavirus vaccines appropriate for use in developing countries. The program was established in 2003 at PATH, a nonprofit global health organization based in Seattle, and works in partnership with the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its work is performed under a collaborative arrangement with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization and has received financial support from The Vaccine Fund. For more information, visit www.rotavirusvaccine.org.
About AAAS
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science (www.sciencemag.org). AAAS was founded in 1848, and serves some 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of one million. The non-profit AAAS (www.aaas.org) is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy; international programs; science education; and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!, www.eurekalert.org, the premier science-news Web site, a service of AAAS.