WHO Calls On Journalists To Stick To Validity In Health Reporting
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has charged journalists to consult health experts and ascertain validity in health reports before publishing.
The Oyo State Coordinator of WHO, Dr Phillips Zorto made the call in Ibadan during a one day capacity building for journalists organised by WHO in partnership with the State Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Oyo state chapter.
The coordinator stressed that validity was crucial in reporting so as to guarantee disseminating facts to the public.
He remarked that media personnel should be able to set the agenda on health reportage instead of causing anxiety amongst the public.
“Media have so much power that is the reason why I want to believe that Oyo State Government through the State Ministry of Health organised this training so that you can go and spread this information not only at the State capital but be disseminated at every nook and cranny of Oyo state so that people can the magnitude of the problem we have at hand…” he said.
Speaking on the health situation report on epidemic diseases, the Oyo State Disease Notification Officer, Mrs Titilope Akinleye noted that over eighty-five thousand samples were obtained for COVID -19 testing, ten thousand, three hundred and eighteen were confirmed, ten thousand and sixty recovered while two hundred and two deaths were recorded.
In a lecture entitled,” The Role of Media in Diseases Emergencies, the Oyo State Chairperson of NAWOJ, Mrs Jadesola Ajibola suggested that reports must not be written to upset the public but to give factual data.
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