The Media-EIS Fellowship in collaboration with Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, NCDC, and the African Field Epidemiology Network, AFENET, has trained and empowered 29 health media professionals to help promote accurate health information, drive positive behavioral change and to strengthen Nigeria’s health security.
At the graduation ceremony in Abuja, the Communications Specialist, AFENET, Oliver Iorkase described the graduands as an extension of public health workers and encouraged them to connect people by disseminating public health information into the society.
Iorkase said the program was the first of its kind and a crucial tool for ensuring that the population was informed and supportive of public health interventions.
“You may not always have a doctor to tell you what to do, but you can hear a piece of information and know what to do with it on your own. So that’s the essence of why they are like extension of what public health workers are doing, connecting people to the work of public health work.”
The Senior Programme Officer, USAID funded Breakthrough Action Nigeria, Ms. Omolara Oyinlola noted that over 500 journalists in Nigeria applied for the programme but only 30 members passed the 15 months training.
Ms. Oyinlola expressed satisfaction on the success of the programme and urged the graduands to translate information efficiently especially during pandemics or public health emergencies.
“This fellowship was born out of a gap that we identified in terms of the capacity of media professionals to adequately translate scientific information and in a way that resonates with the public, especially during pandemics. There’s a lot of technical information that is being put out and all of these things need to be packaged in a way that the public can make sense of it and take action.”
One of the graduands, Ojoma Akor, who was also the class governor, said she had acquired skills on public health leadership and had been exposed to public health practice.
“The three major tracks of the fellowship really built my capacity in understanding and reporting public health.”
Another graduand, Bilkis Abduraheem-Lawal from Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria’s, Bond FM, expressed fulfilment that she had been well equipped to combat misinformation during disease outbreaks and emphasised the need for continued media training to improve public health communication.
“I’m grateful that it ends in praise, and I appreciate the knowledge acquired so far.”
Also the General Manager of Bond Fm, Lagos state, Mrs. Adenike Adegoke who came to celebrate with Bilkis, said the training had broadened her knowledge on health awareness and would enhance her reportage skills.
The Media-EIS Fellowship is a collaborative program spearheaded by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET), the USAID-funded Breakthrough ACTION-Nigeria aimed at bridging science, population and government as well as emphasising the importance of understanding scientific data to prevent misinformation.
“Since its inception in October 2023, the program has trained and empowered health media professionals in areas such as social and behavior change communication, basic epidemiology, infodemic management”
