DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

It seems that whether or not a policy or issue gains traction from the public or donors is mainly a psychological and sociological one. The fads and fatigues of global health are dependent on how the public perceives and values certain issues. This evaluation can be more subjective than objective at times. Rather than comparing DALYs and morbidity and mortality numbers, priority is given to issues which illicit an emotional response or seem most applicable to a group of people. What I mean by this is that if someone is able to relate to a person suffering from a disease of could see the issue affecting him or her, then he or she will be more likely to focus on this issue or donate to its cause. The needed traction for global health campaigns often comes down to how people socially construct a disease or portray the issue; public health communication can be very strategic for this. If public health officials issuing these campaigns are able to illicit a visceral response for the public or successfully play upon the fears and values of the public, then they will be more likely to raise awareness and funds for this issue.

 

The article titled, "Welcome to Cancerland" by Barbara Ehrenreich, explores what breast cancer meant to the author in an environment where the movement and traction supporting breast cancer is strong and burgeoning. The author did not really "buy into" this movement and instead navigated her own way through having breast cancer. She brings up cogent points about the overwhelming rally to defeat breast cancer in America, and forces the reader to examine the reasons for and the support behind the breast cancer movement. It seems that who a disease effects is very important to the kind of support it receives. Since breast cancer is a disease which effects white upper-class women, it has become of particular concern to the upper echelons of society and thereby also prospective large donors. When I was in Senegal, there was little to no traction for eliminating the problem of Talibé children; the issue does not attract donors and is little known. I wonder that if the Talibés were the children of wealthy Senegalese parents, rather than of the poorest Senegalese, then the momentum behind changing this problem would be greater.

 

What kind of campaign or public communication would garner support from donors and the Senegalese to change this issue? Have the Senegalese become "fatigued" by this issue, and just accepted it as a part of normal life in Senegal?

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.