Media’s role critical for improving health governance

Islamabad:A five-day workshop for health journalists, organsied by the Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability (TDEA) in collaboration with the Ministry of National Health Services concluded at Bhurban on Sunday with a resolve to promote information-sharing, establish a network of health journalists, advocate for recognition of health care as a basic human right in the Constitution, and ensure access to authentic information to improve the quality of health journalism in Pakistan.

A total of 23 journalists representing different media groups from all four provinces and the Islamabad Capital Territory attended the workshop that ran from January 27-31. The former and current special advisors to the PM Dr. Zafar Mirza and Dr. Faisal Sultan were the lead moderator and chief guest of the inaugural session, respectively. Dr Faisal requested health journalists to report accurately, distinguish between fake and correct news, identify the risks related to the Covid-19 pandemic, and provide credible and timely information.

Samia Shah from the Population Council informed the participants about population growth and the challenges it poses to health governance. Dr. Zafar Mirza spoke about Pakistan’s broader health and healthcare system, while Dr. Raza Zaidi discussed health sector governance, which was followed by a lively discussion.

Dr. Malik Muhammad Safi facilitated the workshop’s second day, with a dedicated session on COVID-19 in Pakistan. Dr. Usman Mushtaq told the participants about Coronavirus’s basics including the pandemic’s state in Pakistan and how to tackle it through preventive measures. Dr. Zafar Mirza highlighted the lessons learned from COVID-19, followed by a panel discussion on reporting on the virus. He also presented the nuances of Universal Healthcare and Primary Healthcare.

Dr. Raza Zaidi discussed the national essential health services package in his second presentation, followed by a question-answer session. Dr. Zakiuddin Ahmed later talked about healthcare quality and patient safety. Dr. Abdul Bari Khan focused on the private health sector. Dr. Nadeem Khawaja discussed general practitioners’ roles, and Dr. Shuaib Khan talked about quackery and the private health sector’s regulation. Lively discussions followed, with the participants referring to their observations of the private healthcare sector’s state to seek more details about the regulatory framework.

Later, Dr. Assad Hafeez, Dr. Tausif Janjua, Dr. Israr ul Haq, and senior health journalist Waqar Bhatti spoke on mother and child health, malnutrition and stunting, polio and essential immunization programme, and problems journalists face covering health, respectively.

The workshop’s fourth day featured presentations on HIV/AIDS in Pakistan by Fahmida Iqbal Khan and Dr. Rajwal Khan of UNAIDS. At the same time, Dr. Huma Qureshi discussed the high prevalence of hepatitis and Dr. Hasan Bin Hamza rounded off the discussion by presenting on non-communicable diseases and their healthcare burden. Journalists expressed surprise over some of the statistics presented and acknowledged the need for information sharing and research on subjects to report about them.

Dr. Amanullah Saif from the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan informed the house about determining medicine prices, and Raisa Gul, Dean Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, discussed the shortage of nurses in the country. Later, Dr. Zaeem ul Haq gave a presentation on risk communication during COVID-19. The discussion that followed reflected the participants’ desire to have regular information sharing on drug pricing to avoid undue sensationalism.

On the concluding fifth day, social media expert Haroon Baloch spoke about technology use in health journalism and the effective use of social media platforms.

The workshop ended with the participants expressing satisfaction with the learning imparted and resolved that a network of health journalists be established to assist journalists in getting a better understanding of the health sector, advocate for recognition of health care as a basic human right in the constitution, provide a platform for interaction among policy-makers and ensure access to research and authentic information to improve the quality of health journalism in Pakistan.

Shahid Fiaz, CEO of TDEA, thanked the participants, the health ministry, and UKAID for making the workshop possible.