Information Saves Lives: Health Response Fund

As we recover from COVID19 and build resilience in anticipation of upcoming health emergencies, Internews' Health Journalism Network strives to build health reporting capacity, support creative and solutions-based health stories, and foster relationships between members around the world and between members and public health experts.

Here are some key updates since our last report:

• MPOX MONITOR LAUNCH: As the threat of Mpox increases, with new cases being reported in countries across the world, the Internews Health team is developing new resources for journalists and media outlets to play a key role in fighting misinformation about the virus.The Health Journalism Network launched our Mpox Monitor, providing the latest developments and evidence-based information for journalists to educate their audiences on this emerging crisis. Click to view the monitor in English and French.

• MEDIA SCIENCE CAFES: On February 27th, Jaya Shreedhar and two Internews health journalism mentors, Kemo Cham and Chaacha Mwita, hosted the first Media Science Café at the Africa Christian Health Association Platform's (ACHAP) 11th Biennial Conference in Abuja, Nigeria. ACHAP brought together faith-based member organizations from across Africa to deliberate on Universal Health Coverage (UHC), and the Media Science Café was an important session to help journalists understand the challenges of UHC in Nigeria and Africa from global health experts and to gain insights about the role of faith-based organizations in reaching health services to underserved rural communities. Journalists appreciated the relaxed atmosphere of the Café to brainstorm story ideas and solutions in overcoming barriers to accessing data on UHC and connect informally with the health experts and faith leaders. Journalist Yecenu Sasetu of Kiss FM Abuja said, “I could literally touch the expert who sat next to me throughout the session. I could whisper questions into his ears, and no one would know we were engaged in a very serious news gathering activity." Overall, the event, made possible by CORUS International, led to news coverage from various media outlets and deepened understanding of the important role media can play in achieving UHC in Africa. 

We remain committed to building health reporting capacity worldwide, with an eye for marginalized and vulnerable communities who are disproportionately affected by issues involving the intersection of health and climate emergencies.

Your generous support is enabling us in this important work. If you have any questions or would like to know more about our COVID response work, please do not hesitate to reach out.