Rotary Group Trains Gombe Journalists On Reproductive Health For Maximum Awareness.
By Fatima Sadiq.
Rotary Action Group for Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health (RMCH) In collaboration with Federal and State Ministry of Health has organized a Three day sensitisation workshop for journalist on reproductive health reporting in Gombe, as part of implementation of a three year programme titled ” Together for Healthy Families in Nigeria”.
Declaring the workshop open, Gombe state commissioner for Health, Dr Habu Dahiru described the training as apt, stressing the need for ethical journalism emphasizing sensitivity to health related stories.
He explained that the administration of Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya is the first administration in the state that has appointed a Special adviser on partner coordination which works with donor organizations, and it was able to provide relevant manpower and good working environment that lowered the data of maternal, newborn and child mortality rates in the state by revamping 114 Primary HealthCare Centers with equipment and well trained personnel.
Dr Habu Dahiru therefore called on the participants to utilize the knowledge acquired for best outcomes from the program that the society will benefit from.
According to the Country director, Prof Emmanuel Adedolapo Lufadeju, in his speech which was presented by, the Gombe State Rotary Representative, Rotariam Mohammed Dantata Ndus, the purpose of the program is to create accurate knowledgeable enterprising and investigative reporting, with a target outcome of at least 180 family planning, maternal or reproductive health advocacy and public awareness articles and stories published or broadcast by trained journalist in the next two years.
The Country Director added that using men as change agents, the project seeks to reduce maternal and infant morbidity and mortality due to pregnancy related complications by 25% in target areas of Gombe Nasarawa, Ekiti and the FTC, with 1 LGA in Abuja and 2 LGAs in the three states, by use of digital maternal and prenatal child death surveillance and response platform.
The two local Governments selected in Gombe state are Yamaltu Deba and Gombe LGA using Deba General hospital and Zainab Bulkachuwa women and children hospital as centers respectively.
Radio Nigeria reports that there were paper presentations on myths misconceptions and there impacts to life in Nigeria, how to interpret health data, phenomenon and terminologies, the pushback from religion and culture towards family planning and RMNCH issues.
Handling sensitive topics respecting privacy and cultural conversation reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality in Nigeria.
Writing human angles stories interactive sessions, group activities as well as question and answer sessions.
