COVID-19: WHO applauds health journalists for creating awareness against vaccine hesitancy

The World Health Organization(WHO) in Nigeria has commended the Association of Nigeria Health Journalists (ANHEJ) for their efforts to have proven to be highly professional by rising to the test of the COVID-19 hesitancy by educating, mobilizing, and creating awareness amongst Nigerians.

WHO Nigeria communication officer, Charity Warigon in her goodwill message at a 2 day annual conference organized by the Association of Nigeria Health Journalists(ANHEJ) said, journalists covering health beats proved their capability and have done invaluable work over the years and made a difference in helping people make informed decisions and positive choices to promote their health.

Warigon said the theme of the conference, “Improving confidence in COVID-19 Vaccine in Nigeria beyond 2021: The Role the Media” is timely and apt, as it not only speaks to the present but also to the future of making Nigerians healthier.

According to Warigon, “Journalists can only improve on what we have achieved so far and even do better, as there is so much to attain in driving confidence in the vaccination effort by building trust and continuously being a trusted and reliable source.

“The COVID-19 pandemic, unlike any pandemic in history, has affected everyone and every country in a manner unexpected, although there had been calls and available support to nations to build their health systems and security in preparation for future outbreaks.

“In the earlier phases of the pandemic, there was the absence of sufficient knowledge to inform the development of vaccines as the sciences were limited, which were exploited by mischief makers, through what we call, infodemics.

“If we are to build and/or maintain trust, this noble group and profession are one out of a few that have historically been proven to be trusted to provide information that shapes the behaviour and lives of generations of peoples the world over.”

“The media and journalists are the bridge between scientists and the public. It behoves every member of the fourth realm of the estate to, as social responsibility, ensure the provision of accurate, timely, credible, understandable, relevant, and actionable information through various communication channels.

“Our messaging must continue to remind the public that, for the foreseeable future, we must continue to wear masks, physically distance, and avoid the crowd. Being vaccinated doesn’t mean that we can throw caution to the wind and put ourselves and others at risk, relaxing public health and social measures interventions should be done cautiously and with careful attention paid to those who remain unvaccinated.”

“On its part, WHO remains resolute in sustaining this mutually beneficial partnership with AHNEJ, towards promoting health and wellbeing, keeping the world safe and serving the vulnerable, to achieve universal health coverage and ensure that no one is left behind,” he stated.

The Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) FCT Chapter, Comrade Emmanuel Ogbeche also in his goodwill message lamented that the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) and Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) who are supposed to drive the conference are not actively involved but left it for international organisations.

Nonetheless, Ogbeche affirmed that there are vaccines resistance in Nigeria as this is due to religious, ethnic and political factors.

He charged journalists to work the talk, we must be seen to believe what we preach as this will encourage people to get vaccinated.

Also in his remarks, ANHEJ Board Chairman, Godwin Odemijie, charged journalists to focus on issues of mental health, stressing that, this is affecting many people now and called on journalists to do more investigative and Human angle stories to stem the tides of mental health issues.

Earlier, in his welcome address, the President of ANHEJ, Hassan Zaggi, called on the federal government to always make available the necessary information that journalists need for their reportage.

He further said that health journalists in Abuja are gathered to work out strategies on how to convince Nigerians for the adequate uptake of the COVID-19 vaccines.

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COVID-19: WHO applauds health journalists for creating awareness against vaccine hesitancy. COVID-19: WHO applauds health journalists for creating awareness against vaccine hesitancy.