|
|
|
|
| National |
| Salaniponi urges media to join TB fight |
|
by
George Ntonya, 05 December 2006
-
11:01:22
|
National TB Control Programme (NTP) director Felix Salaniponi has urged media houses in the country to join in the fight against TB by publishing well-researched articles regularly.
Salaniponi was speaking in Liwonde on Saturday at a day-long meeting of editors and senior journalist to develop a media strategy in response to a call made by African ministers of health in Maputo, Mozambique in 2005 that TB should be declared an emergency on the continent.
Only two countries have declared the contagious disease as an emergency and Malawi is expected to make the declaration when it joins other countries in the world to commemorate World TB Day, which falls on March 24 each year.
Salaniponi said NTP needs a lot of support from the media in information dissemination as well as other partners to be able to reduce significantly incidences of TB in the country. He explained that the declaration in itself is not a solution to the problem but activities around the response.
Salaniponi commended journalists for showing commitment to support NTP by establishing a network that will be responsible for implementing the media strategy.
“By establishing the network the media is expected to explore TB and bring out hidden information. You should develop interest and increase frequency of TB stories,” said Salaniponi.
However, he said there is need for accuracy and responsible reporting because a single misrepresentation of facts would cause unnecessary alarm to the public.
He assured that NTP would support the media network so that Malawi becomes a role model in responding to the Maputo call that TB be declared an emergency.
At the end of the meeting, the journalists agreed to carry stories, feature articles and commentaries every month in both print and electronic media under some key pillars of the NTP’s response to the disease. The journalists are expected, among other things, to visit prisons and other TB hot spots to give the articles a human face.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
