Carry out Reports on Neonatal, Child Health, Journalists Urged

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

Journalists in the country have been challenged to carry out investigative reports that could highlight challenges surrounding maternal and neonatal child health in Nigeria.

Media Advisor in DFID funded programme, Mamaye Evidence 4 Action project, Olaide Shokunbi, gave the challenge weekend at a quarterly meeting of Bauchi State Accountability Mechanism Knowledge Management Sub Committee (BaSAM KMC) in Bauchi.

Shokunbi took time to explain the role of the media in changing policy direction of any institution, stressing that journalists that get involved in investigative journalism are catalyst to positive change.

According to him, “You can independently go to communities to find out how functional or effective their primary health care facilities are, or the level of decay in the infrastructure of the PHCs that hinders effective service delivery in maternal and neonatal health areas.”

He maintained that when journalists bring to attention and highlight challenges in the health sector, government and other stakeholders pay attention and try to correct the anomaly, saying: “It is happening in other states and some parts of the world.”

Details later…