THE first cohort of Zimbabwean health Journalists have successfully attained certificates in Public Health and Health Communication with one of the country’s leading Public Health training institutions, the Harare Institute of Public Health (HIPH).
By Michael Gwarisa
A total 14 Health Journalists from different media houses, who are also members of the Health Communicators Forum in Zimbabwe (HCF) enrolled for the one week long course and covered an array of modules. Some of the courses covered include, Introduction to Epidemiology, Health Financing, Health Systems, Human Resources, Primary Health Care Policies and Practices, Management of Health systems, Health Supply Chain, Ethics in Healthcare among other modules.
In an Interview with HealthTimes, Health Communicators Forum Chairperson, Anna Miti said the course was meant to equip journalists with basic public health training which will enhance their health reporting.
This is in line with the vision of the HCF which is to improve health reporting. We realize that while we have skilled reporters, health is a complex area which requires additional knowledge and skills beyond the usual media training. Beyond this we also acknowledge the ever-changing media space with new players such as bloggers etc,” said Miti.
She added that equipping Health Journalists with public health training and knowledge was part of the HCF’s agenda to transform health reporting in Zimbabwe for it to be in sync with global health reporting standards. In the developed world, health desks and health Journalists are usually persons with either a science, medical or public health background.
“These players have a bearing on public health discourse in that if they report wrong information it can badly affect the public health response in Zimbabwe. But if they give accurate, timely information it can result in good outcomes such as disease prevention. We envisage that as a forum we will have more opportunities to grow and enhance health reporting through more training and network opportunities. We also invite more stakeholders in health who want to partner us as we have an open door policy. Health is everyone’s business.”
The inaugural Public Health training for Journalists was open to Journalists from Harare and plans are underway to have a program that caters for health media practitioners from across the country’s 10 provinces in the not so distant future. Journalists who took part in the training came from the Sunday Mail, The Herald, Zimbabwe Television Network (ZTN), HealthTimes, NewZimbabwe.com, 263Chat, Health Communicators and programs people, bloggers and freelancers.
The Harare Institute of Public Health (HIPH) prides itself as Zimbabwe’s Centre of excellen- ce in training healthcare professionals in public health research and information. HIPH Principal, Dr Amos Marume said Journalists were an integral part of Public Health and the need to capacitate them cannot be overstated.
“Communication is very important. Communication in a way that people would understand is also very important. In our settings as an African country, though we have experts in Public Health and our practitioners are every specialized and well trained, the challenge in most cases becomes the issue of language. It may be too technical for consumption that is appropriate for the healthcare consumer.
“In most cases, the good intention that our practitioners have might not reach the intended audience in a way that can be easily understood or in a manner that can easily connect with the public. It is important that experts of communication like Journalists get a basic appreciation of these issues such that they will be able to decode what healthcare practitioners will be communicating into a version that the community can understand and can easily adjust for positive health outcomes. As health Journalists, it is import to know what field you are in and what sort of areas you can contribute to. Journalists stand in between the health care consumer and the supplier of public health services,” said Dr Marume.
Meanwhile, veteran radio health Journalist and Communication Consultant with the World Health Organisation in Zimbabwe (WHO), Vivian Mugarisi said the course has come at a moment the world is in need of reliable health communicators especially in the midst of misinformation and disinformation around COVID-19 and other emerging diseases.
“We are still experiencing COVID-19 and already another virus, the Monkeypox has been reported in several countries. Now more than ever, we need Health Journalists with the right training and right mind-set to communicate the prevailing public health issues. This programme is eye opening and I think it is the link that has been missing all these years. As journalists with interest in health issues we have been talking about this for years and wishing if universities could open their Public health programmes to journalists, so this is coming in to bridge that gap,” said Vivian.
Fadzai Ndangana, a health Journalist with 263 Chat said, “This programme is going to improve our reporting on health issues and public health matters. The program allowed us to get an in-depth understanding into some of the issues that are usually scratched on the surface by Journalists on a daily basis. These include health financing, HR in the healthcare sector amongst other issues.”
