VZCZCXRO9072
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHDR #0122/01 0391617
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081617Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9375
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAR ES SALAAM 000122 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR S/GWI: MARR, AF/E: JTREADWELL; INR/RAA: FEHERENRIECH, 
INR/MR, AF/PD 
STATE PASS TO USAID 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO KWMN PHUM KMDR SCUL KPAO SOCI TZ
 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR HONORS DOCTOR FOR EFFORTS TO ADVANCE WOMEN'S 
ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE 
 
REF: 2009 Dar es Salaam 29 
 
¶1. SUMMARY:  Ambassador Alfonso Lenhardt used the Mission's most 
prestigious annual award to extol the work of a woman doctor who 
fights for improved family planning, disease screening and 
treatment, and combating gender-based violence for Tanzanian women. 
The Ambassador's remarks in honor of Dr. Marina Njelekela as head of 
the Medical Women Association of Tanzania were carried and have 
continued to appear in all national media since January 27.  The 
event elicited praise from Tanzanians from throughout society.  The 
"Martin Luther King Drum Major for Justice" ceremony supported our 
Mission goals to strengthen health outcomes and advance women's 
leadership in the public arena.  USAID programmed over 23 million 
USD in FY09 to reduce maternal mortality (family planning and 
emergency obstetric care) and gender based violence, in line with 
the Tanzanian Health Sector Strategic Plan.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  The Ambassador awarded our annual "Martin Luther King Drum Major 
for Justice" Award to Dr. Marina Njelekela, Chairperson of the 
Medical Women Association of Tanzania (MEWATA) on January 27, for 
her efforts to improve maternal health and women's access to health 
care.  Under her guidance, the women doctors of MEWATA have begun 
breast cancer and cervical cancer screening and awareness raising 
campaigns nationwide, have launched campaigns to reduce gender-based 
violence, and have worked to reduce Tanzania's maternal mortality 
rate, currently a staggering 578 per 100,000 live births, which is 
44 times higher than the 2007 U.S. maternal mortality rate of 13 per 
100,000 live births.  Joining forces with national television 
station ITV, Njelekela has ensured that breast self-exam PSAs are 
aired on a daily basis, imparting previously unknown information to 
women throughout the country.  These PSAs and MEWATA's campaign to 
provide free medical care have empowered Tanzanian women to discuss 
health issues more openly and to seek medical intervention earlier. 
The award also recognized Njelekela's advocacy for improved maternal 
health and family planning provisions in the national health 
agenda. 
 
¶3.  At the ceremony in honor of a Tanzanian who has waged a peaceful 
battle for equality and justice in the spirit of Martin Luther King, 
the Ambassador said to Dr. Njelekela, "It is my honor to present to 
you this... award for your successful efforts to advance equality in 
health care for all Tanzanians.  Your focus on improving access to 
health care makes you a leader in the fight for women's equality. 
The people of the United States of America will continue to shine a 
light of support on your quest for a healthy Tanzanian population 
accessing affordable and sustainable health services." 
 
Media Coverage 
-------------- 
¶4.  In addition to television news coverage of the event run on all 
national stations, a full length program covering the ceremony has 
been rerun at least three times on ITV over the past week.  In print 
media, "The Guardian" (independent, moderate, reliable English, 
25,000 daily circulation) carried a front page photo on January 28, 
and the paper's January 29 editorial was entitled, "We salute you, 
Dr. Njelekela" (media reaction septel).  More than a dozen 
additional stories have been carried almost daily over the past two 
weeks in print media including in "Nipashe" (independent, reliable 
Kiswahili, 80,000 daily circulation), "Mwananchi" (independent, 
reliable Kiswahili, 20,000 daily circulation), "Majira" 
(independent, radical/anti-government, Kiswahili 20,000 daily 
circulation), "Habari Leo" (Kiswahili, 10,000 daily circulation), a 
feature article in "Nipashe Jamii."  English articles were carried 
in The Sunday Citizen Magazine (independent reliable, 6,500 weekly 
circulation) with a feature entitled "Honoring a benevolent Doctor," 
in "The Express" (independent, reliable 6,000 weekly circulation), 
and in "The Citizen," (independent, reliable, 6,000 daily 
circulation).  English and Kiswahili radio stations carried news of 
the ceremony in their morning "newspaper review" programs and in 
ongoing stories. 
 
¶5.  Following the ceremony, the Ambassador received dozens of 
congratulatory comments within Dar es Salaam and during his trip to 
the Parliamentary session in Dodoma - an indication that the media 
coverage of the ceremony reached wide audiences and that our choice 
of an awardee and Ambassador's message at the ceremony resonated 
with Tanzanians of all walks of life, from the grassroots to the 
ministerial level.  In a message to the Public Diplomacy Officer, 
Dr. Njelekela said that "the award has been taken very, very 
positively by the medical profession and the public in general. I 
have so far received hundreds of messages, emails, and phone calls 
congratulating me and MEWATA as a whole for this great achievement." 
 During media interviews, Njelekela commented that receiving the 
award has challenged her to intensify her efforts to reach more 
Tanzanian women. 
 
Continued USG Support for Maternal Health Promotion 
 
DAR ES SAL 00000122  002 OF 002 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
¶6.  The Mission continues vigorous engagement to advance women's 
leadership and mobilize activists around policy initiatives of 
concern to women in all sectors.  Njelekela's efforts to reaching 
rural Tanzanian women led the Public Affairs Section to commit a 
$1,000 grant to MEWATA to strengthen their outreach programs.  USAID 
continues to engage with MEWATA and Dr. Njelekela to collaborate in 
a range of women's health programs including family planning, 
delivery and emergency obstetric care, and reducing gender based 
violence under USAID's $23 million  women's health portfolio.  In 
follow-up discussions February 3, Dr. Njelekela called the period 
since the award "an exciting week" that would be "remembered over a 
lifetime." 
 
LENHARDT