Media Experts Identify Quality Contents As Tool For Behavioural Change • Commend USAID Breakthrough ACTION Nigeria On Building Capacity
Participants at a three-day media review organised by USAID Breakthrough ACTION Nigeria have emphasized the need for media professionals to provide quality content that will drive social behavioural change in the society.
The review meeting which had in attendance over twenty BA-N media partners in Oyo State was aimed at building the capacity of professionals in the industry on communicable diseases with special focus on Tuberculosis, Covid 19, Monkey Pox, lasser fever, and Malaria
The event was also to do a postmortem anylysis of programmes, reports and achievements done on health related issues in the state, with a view to ensuring media professionalism and adequate awareness on tuberculosis, malaria, laser fever and other communicable diseases.
Speaking at the end of the training, some of the participants identified brainstorming, networking, record keeping and quality research as some of the ingredients needed to create contents that will make impact and correct societal misconception.
Mr Seye Ojo, the Sun Newspaper, Nafiu Busari, Premier FM, Seun Akinola, Splash FM, Oluwatoyin Salau of 32FM and Adebayo Adelowo, Ogo Ilu FM said the media review has resharpened and added to their experiences in the reportage of health related matters
Folakemi Tokunbo-Ishola “media professionals have a critical role to play in changing so many narratives especially those misconstrued. With this Important role media professionals also must up their games and be abreast of happenings and must command knowledge of what they drop at public domain”
Earlier, Dr Olatunde Babalola from the Oyo State ministry of health challenged media professionals to intensify efforts at sensitizing the public on the causes, prevention and treatment of tuberculosis and other communicable diseases.
Dr Babalola who disclosed that Oyo state is ranked 13th high TB burden state in Nigeria explained that out of the one hundred and sixteen thousand, five hundred and thirty-three (116,533) presumptive cases in 2021, eleven thousand, eight hundred and thirteen (11,813) were diagnosed and registered as TB.
He said statistics has also shown that every second, someone in the world is being infected with TB while someone dies of TB in every twenty seconds.
In a welcome address, Oyo state coordinator, USAID Breakthrough-ACTION Nigeria, Mrs Oluwatoyin Afachung commended the media partners for their efforts at sensitizing the public and tasked them to do more to achieve a disease free society.
Mrs Afachung said Breakthrough Action Nigeria was supporting the state government in fight the menace eslecially through case finding at the community level, appeal to the media to sensitize the people to let them aware of these communicable diseases.
The three-day meeting which ended with the presentation of award to some media partners had participants drawn from the electronic, print, Oyo state ministry of health and new media including newsarena.ng
