English for Health Studies (OET)

Used by IELI under Section VB of the Copyright Act 1968

Australian media raises alarm over meningitis: awareness campaign

linked to launch of new vaccine.

In recent months, the Australian media have bombarded their audiences with distressing
stories and images of babies and young children who have died or been disfigured by
meningococcal disease. Not surprisingly, this has alarmed parents, judging by reports
from besieged hospital casualty departments, doctors' surgeries, and health department
hotlines. Even some of the groups working to raise awareness of the disease believe that
it has been overhyped. "People are panic stricken," says Elizabeth Wafting, general
manager of the Meningitis Foundation, an Australian affiliate of the UK-based
Meningitis Trust.

Many media reports have highlighted the increasing incidence of meningococcal disease-
-in 1995 about two cases were reported for every 100 000 people, compared with 3.5
cases per 100 000 in 2001. But they have often failed to note that the disease remains
relatively rare in Australia, which, unlike some other countries, has not had an epidemic
for many years. The endemic disease is, according to national guidelines, "at low levels
of incidence."

Following widespread concern promoted by front page headlines and prominent

television coverage, the federal government recently announced that it would fund a
vaccination programme against serogroup C, which accounts for about 33% of cases in
Australia.

Public health experts support the programme, but wonder why other recommendations
for changes to the national immunisation schedule have received relatively little political
or public attention. Questions have also been raised about why media coverage of
meningococcal disease seems more intense this winter than in other years.

One explanation is that various groups have been actively promoting increased
awareness, while new vaccines have been launched. Public relations agency Porter
Novelli has been working with parent groups this year to raise awareness about
meningitis. Its activities, including a national awareness week in June, the dissemination
of tragic stories of grieving parents, and an advertising campaign in parenting magazines,
have been funded by vaccine manufacturer Wyeth.

Wyeth also provides an "unconditional educational grant" that helps fund the Meningitis
Centre, established about 10 years ago by parents concerned that lack of awareness was
contributing to poor management of the condition.

Porter Novelli also arranged production of a video highlighting the dangers of meningitis
and the benefits of immunisation, which was widely distributed to child care centres
earlier this year. It was funded by Wyeth, and endorsed by the Meningitis Centre and
some other community groups.

Some health professionals believe the video, which includes interviews with grieving
parents, was overly alarmist, and the Meningitis Foundation did not endorse it. "It's
difficult to make such an emotional video an educational product," says Ms Watling.

The foundation has also been critical of one of the key players driving media coverage--
Joe Mac Manamon, who tells journalists that meningococcal disease is worse than the
Ebola virus and "the most frightening disease known to man."

Mr Mac Manamon helped establish the Meningococcal Foundation of Australia a few

years ago, and more recently set up the Meningococcal Association of Australia. In June,
he declared an inaugural Meningococcal Awareness Week, coinciding with Meningitis
Awareness Week.

Mr Mac Manamon has not personally lost family members to the illness; he became
involved in the area after arranging a benefit for an affected family. Asked if the
community has become too fearful, he replies: "There is not enough public alarm out
there ... it's the most frightening disease known to man.

"I'm very proud to have helped create this media attention. In the last couple of years, I
would have sent out probably 120 media releases to all branches of the media."

Wyeth stresses that it does not support Mr Mac Manamon's comments, and is concerned
about some of the media's coverage of meningococcal disease.

"I really don't think that the way meningococcal disease is being presented in the media is
at all helpful to the public health campaigns," says Wyeth's director of corporate affairs,
Dr Rachel David. "People need to be aware, but not terrified, not to the point where every
child with a cold is taken into casualty.

The intensity of the media coverage is a reflection not just of the variety of interests at
work, but also of the values that drive news production--after all, many other awareness
campaigns never hit the front pages. A dramatic, frightening infectious disease is far
more likely to capture headlines than everyday, more common causes of injury and death.

Meanwhile, Dr Tony Capon, a member of the Meningococcal Disease Committee of the

Communicable Diseases Network Australia, believes a national response is needed to
allay "unhelpful and unprecedented" levels of public alarm about meningococcal disease.

He says that the broader issues--such as how to provide the public with useful health
information without raising undue alarm, and the role of industry in providing such
materials--merit widespread debate.
Answer the following questions

1. According to the article, public “panic” about meningococcyl disease has been
generated mainly by:

a) hospitals and other health services

b) the media
c) The Meningitis Foundation
d) other groups trying to raise awareness

2. The Media is criticized in this report for

a) factual errors
b) exaggeration
c) insensitivity
d) unbalanced reporting

3. The government has introduced a programme of vaccination against meningococcyl

disease in response to

a) the high incidence of the disease

b) intense media lobbying
c) public concern
d) recommendations for changes by national immunisation experts

4. The author implies that the primary purpose of the recent intense publicity campaign is

a) to allay parental fears

b) to increase awareness and prevent further fatalities
c) to disseminate information about tragic cases
d) to profit from increasing public concern

5. The author claims that fear of meningococcyl disease has been deliberately

a) hyped up
b) exaggerated
c) underplayed
d) misleading

6. The author shows that the disease is

a) more terrifying than any other known disease

b) very rare in Australia
c) easily contracted
d) poorly managed
7. Which of the following people and organisations did NOT endorse the publicity video
highlighting the dangers of the disease

a) The Meningitis Foundation

a) Porter Novelli
b) Wyeth
c) Some community groups

8. Which of the following statements most accurately describes Mr. Mac Manamon?

a) He been directly touched by the disease.

b) He believes the community should be even more alarmed.
c) His views are supported by Wyeth.
d) He downplays his role in educating the public.

9. Who or what does the author primarily blame for the level of public alarm about the
disease?

a) Mr MacMahon
b) Wyeth
c) The public themselves
d) Media ethics

10. Whose approch does the author appear to mostly endorse?

a) Mr MacMahon
b) Wyeth
c) Dr. Tony MacMahon
d) The Media

Answers

1. b
2. d
3. c
4. d
5. a
6. b
7. a
8. b
9. d
10. c
Melissa Sweet freelance journalist specialising in health and medicine in Australia
(sweetcom@tig.com.au)

Source Citation:Sweet, Melissa. "Australian media raises alarm over meningitis:

awareness campaign linked to launch of new vaccine." British Medical Journal 325.7364
(Sept 14, 2002): 604(1). Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Flinders University Library. 20
Aug. 2008
<http://find.galegroup.com/itx/start.do?prodId=EAIM>.

Full Text :COPYRIGHT 2002 British Medical Association

Gale Document Number:A92351853

Answers