ABBOTABAD
Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with the support of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) organized a one-day orientation session on the role of media in polio eradication here at a local hotel on Thursday.
The workshop focused on orienting the participants with increased programmatic knowledge and sensitizing them on how to accurately report polio eradication efforts, counter misinformation and negative propaganda, enabling them to understand the significance of polio eradication and their critical role in achieving it.
The workshop was attended by Program Manager UNICEF Wisam Hazem, President Peshawar Press Club Arshad Aziz Malik, Ex-President PPC Muhammad Riaz, officials of UNICEF, WHO and EOC, senior journalists, bureau chiefs of various media channels and health beat reporters of different print and electronic media channels.
Addressing the inaugural session of the workshop, Program Manager UNICEF Wisam Hazem said that the journalists can shape public opinion through their reporting and shaping public opinion in favor of polio vaccination can help us eradicate polio virus.
Wisam Hazem added that UNICEF is providing its support in polio eradication in terms of vaccine procurement and community engagement activities to address community concerns, remove vaccine hesitancy, defuse boycotts and create a favourable opinion in favour of polio vaccinations.
However, he added, media can also play a key role in creating a favourable public opinion in favour of polio vaccination, countering negative propaganda against these vaccines and removing the existing misconceptions and myths among the people. Referring to the significance
In his technical presentation on polio eradication, Dr. Nabeel Liaqat, Provincial Disease Surveillance Officer WHO, focused on the origin of polio virus, its epidemiology, different types of polio virus and vaccines as well as the significance of polio eradication through regular polio vaccination.
He sought media support in building community trust and changing the perception of the people towards vaccine acceptability so that this virus may be wiped out from the last endemic zone.
Shadab Younas, Communication Officer UNICEF, while taking a session of external communications, focused on the significance of proper health reporting and explained that health reporting is essential for maintaining and improving public health.
She added that by providing valuable insights into health trends and issues, health reporting helps in shaping effective public health strategies and necessary legislation in this regard. Referring to polio reporting, she explained that polio reporting requires special skills and technical knowledge and stressed on the participants to master their skills to ensure effective reporting.
She appealed to the media to extend their support to convince the people who are hesitant towards polio vaccination through effective human angle stories, developing documentaries and bring forth neutral and trusted voices to change the perception of the people.
Senior journalist and trainer, Safiullah Gul, guided the participants on how to develop effective stories for print and electronic media which may be touch the feelings of their respective audience and lead to a change in positive behaviors towards public health.
Addressing the concluding session of the Arshad Aziz Malik, President Peshawar Press Club, thanked EOC and UNICEF for organizing the orientation session for journalists. Referring to the support of media for the national cause of polio eradication, he said that the presence of senior journalists, cabinet members of the press club as well as a large number of health beat reporters of print and electronic media outlets are present in this workshop.
Arshad Aziz Malik stressed on the need for conducting capacity building workshops for journalists and added that press club can extend technical support in this regard.
The orientation workshop proved to be a very insightful and interactive session and the participants suggested valuable inputs to further improve polio eradication efforts and ensure the eradication of this crippling disease once and for all.
The session concluded with distribution of shields and certificates among the participants.
