Media personnel, State Health and Public Relations officials from seven NE States - Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura – during a recent Media Sensitization Workshop organised by RRC-NE and UNICEF India in Guwahati.
A slumbering health dept Vs media sensationalism – workshop deliberates on effective collaboration
Moa Jamir
Dimapur | September 30
How can the media and the Health Department work together effectively to tackle the challenges of public health?
This was one of the pertinent questions which media personnel, State Health and Public Relations officials from seven NE States - Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura – and the members UNICEF and RRC-NE wrestled with during a recent workshop.
The question is pertinent, given that child immunization status in all the NE States, except Sikkim and Manipur, are below the national average of 62%, as per the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4).
Observing the same, the Regional Resource Centre for North Eastern States (RRC-NE), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt of India and UNICEF organised the ‘Media Sensitization Workshop for Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) for North Eastern States of India,’ in Guwahati on September 23.
It was a precursor to the launching of IMI in the seven states along with the rest of India on October 7, with the primary objective of achieving 90% full immunization by December 2018 covering 118 districts in 16 states, including 52 districts in the region.
Why sensitization?
According to ‘Routine Immunization House to House Monitoring Data’ (2015) presented during the workshop, the two chief factors responsible for non-immunization of children in India were awareness and information gap - 33 % and Apprehension about Adverse events following immunization (AEFI) - 32%.
Thus, the collaboration between media and government was seen as crucial to fill the information gap and also dispel various apprehensions connected with immunization.
Media responsibility
Tahseen Alam, Advocacy and Communication Officer, UNICEF Assam noted that media has a great “responsibility because people believe what they report,” and hence shapes their “ideas, beliefs and biases.”
However, she said that negative reportage can also lead the “negative public opinion through sensational, contradicting and dismissive arguments about the vaccine and the programme.”
At times, she pointed out that news reports, especially on AEFI, are often reactive, event based and sensationalist. It impacts demand as well as invokes public sentiment, adversely effecting implementation, she added.
Many attendees noted that random medical reports, life style, and political sensitive health reportage filled up the pages leaving little space for development stories.
Health Department’s duty
The media personnel had another take on the matter. A common consensus was for state health departments to be more proactive in responding to health issues.
Where are the briefings, clarifications, consultation and factual information from identified spokesperson, especially during crisis management? they questioned.
Bureaucratic red-tapism and shifting responsibility were common problems highlighted by all states’ representatives.
They also stressed the media should be a partaker in the implementation process of health programmes rather than simply carrying press releases.
How can you create awareness when the only activity the health department does is to release an advertisement just 2-3 days before the proposed programme, they pointed out. “The IEC (Information, Education and Communication) are also limited to display of posters and banners.”
Effective collaboration: Ways forward
Towards finding ways for effective collaboration, each state representative had a brainstorming session deliberating challenges and the way forward.
The service providers suggested that media should focus on success and human interest stories on health and celebrating champions, especially the last-mile healthcare delivery personnel like ASHAs.
Chaff out the ‘masala’ and present it concisely and honestly, Tasheen Alam said. “Ask the right questions, identify the right sources, track and appraise the evidence and contextualize based on current concerns.”
She further cautioned against false sense of balance, single source stories, tyranny of the anecdote and sound bytes and spot opinions masquerading as facts.
A representative from Arunachal Pradesh, Dakter Esse suggested health officials and media persons to come to a common platform in two way interaction towards addressing the awareness gap, going away from the press conference format.
On AEFI, she suggested following UNICEF’s Assessment, Communication, Analyze, Design and Action (ACADA) model to help achieve fairness in reporting.
As most of the media in the seven states are limited in terms of manpower and other resources, there was also a common suggestion towards constituting a fellowship on health reporting.
Need for nodal
media official
There was also a common consensus from the attendees that in a world requiring fast-paced decisions and instant reactions, the bureaucracy was still in a slumber.
The stressed on the urgent need to establish hotline to all directorates and creation of media cells in each department with regular press briefings and interaction. It also noted that authorized officials have to be designated for information on specific facets concerning public health. Further there was a call for active social media handles with real time interaction as well as health official as citizen’s journalist on public health issues.
The media representatives, while affirming that they cannot become PR machines for government policies, asked that press conferences should not be coordinated publicity campaigns but a two way communication.
