The President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Albert K. Dwumfuor has urged News Editors to actively engage with stakeholders in combating vaccine hesitancy.
Emphasizing the media’s role, he underscored the importance of raising awareness about vaccine intake to improve the health of Ghanaians.
Mr Dwumfuor made these remarks at the launch of the “Media Engagement Project on Vaccine Uptake in Ghana” organized by the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN) in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS).
He said, “We have the potential to combat vaccine hesitancy by leveraging the influence we wield within our respective media organizations to dispel the myth surrounding this issue known as VH. It is advantageous for us to act in light of the current environmental conditions.
He added, “It is my strong conviction that the information gained from this training will not only enhance your capacity to produce high-quality reports but also enable you to effectively communicate regarding the matter at hand. I have full faith that the abundance of knowledge you acquire from this source will greatly enhance your professional growth as a knowledgeable and proficient journalist.”
Mr Dwumfuor pledged GJA’s commitment to assist stakeholders in this fight.
“The GJA remains fully prepared to collaborate with any organization that endeavours to enhance its capacity for educating the public about the importance of vaccination in combating prevalent diseases”.
Meeting vaccination targets for certain diseases has been challenging due to vaccine hesitancy, attributable to myths, fears, and misinformation, as well as anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, safety and efficacy concerns.
It is against this background, that the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN) and its partners have brought together about thirty news editors from various media organizations across the country to strengthen partnerships geared toward increasing the uptake of vaccines.
Dr. Charity Binka, the Executive Secretary of AMMREN, in an interview with Citi News on the sidelines of the event further emphasized the urgency for public sensitization with editors playing a key role.
“The whole idea is to get the editors to buy into the fact that we need to do a lot more to address this issue of vaccine hesitancy. Because the editors are the gatekeepers if they don’t allow the items to get to the bulletin or to go into the newspaper it would not see the light of day,” she stated.
AMMREN is a network of journalists and scientists in ten African countries, who having focused on malaria for over a decade, now join stakeholders in the fight against other diseases threatening man’s survival on earth.
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