AHBN Floats Support Fund for Health Reporters 

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja 

The Coordinator of the Africa Health Budget Network (AHBN), Aminu Magashi, has unveiled a support fund to assist health reporters facing serious health-related emergencies.

Against the background of the peculiar work environment and risk associated with the journalism profession, Magashi said it had become necessary to put in place health measures that properly cater for the welfare of journalists.

He urged the government, public-spirited Nigerians, development partners, and the private sector to do something to empathise with journalists, recognising their humanity as they serve society.

Speaking at the congress meeting of the Association of Nigerian Health Journalists (ANHEJ) in Abuja, Magashi said his organisation is supporting the Trust Fund with an initial N1million. 

Magashi, who noted that journalists, often referred to as the fourth estate of government, were tasked with informing, educating, and entertaining society while holding governments accountable.

He added that despite their crucial role, they were frequently taken for granted and expected to disseminate information regardless of their personal circumstances. 

According to him, the Health and Hazard Trust Fund for the members of ANHEJ was established in recognition of journalists’ importance to society and their frequent neglect.

He added that the fund will address health hazards faced by health sector journalists in the course of their duties.

He said: “Everyone often takes the journalist for granted; we don’t even want to know what they are passing through when they are invited to come and provide coverage of our events for dissemination to the public

“We often look down on them, which is why some organisers of events would even shout at a journalist who is late to the event, while not bothering what could be the reason.

“At AHBN, we felt that it is time to change the narrative and the perception of our journalist and we being that their welfare and wellbeing should not be taken for granted. 

“This is in no way to influence their reportage because there is no way professional journalists would manipulate facts that are there for everyone to see.

“But the fact remains that they are human like everyone else, they have feelings, they have commitments and have a duty that was constitutionally recognised, the society should not take that for granted,” he said.