The Eastern Regional Health Directorate has organized a one-day workshop in Koforidua, aimed at equipping journalists with the skills necessary for responsible reporting during disease outbreaks.
Participants included representatives from prominent media outlets such as Ghana News Agency (GNA), Adom FM, TV3, TV Africa, GhOneTV, Citi TV, and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).
Dr. John Ekow Otoo, Eastern Regional Deputy Director of Public Health, emphasized the indispensable role of the media in disseminating timely and accurate information during health crises.
He highlighted the importance of engaging journalists to ensure that the public receive reliable updates, avoiding misinformation and its potentially harmful consequences.
The training focused on empowering journalists with tools for fact-checking and verifying information prior to publication, while underscoring the value of professional ethics to prevent sensationalized reporting.
The initiative reflects the Directorate’s commitment to fostering responsible journalism as a cornerstone of effective public health response.
He said accurate reporting shaped public’s perception and behaviour for better understanding towards health campaigns on vaccination, malaria, tuberculosis among others.
He stressed that misinformation and sensationalism can lead to fear and panic, or vaccine hesitancy for example myths about COVID-19 vaccines.
He took the participants through the need to gain foundational knowledge of infectious diseases, their transmission route and control measures.
He urged them to familiarise themselves with public health agencies such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), Centers for Diseases Control and prevention (CDC), health ministries, and their role in outbreak response.
He touched on types of outbreaks which were epidemic, pandemic, and sporadic.
Explaining these terms, he said epidemic is a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease within a specific region or population, citing an example with the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, while pandemics such as COVID-19, Influenza (H1N1) are alobal outbreak affecting many countries
Endemic outbreaks, he said, were a constant presence of diseases in specific regions, for example malaria in sub- Saharan Africa.
He said sporadic outbreaks were isolated cases such as rabies occurring irregularly with no predictable pattern.
Dr Otoo, encouraged journalists to approach credible scientists, doctors, and epidemiologist in their news reports instead of influencers or unqualified sources.
Mr. Maxwell Kudekor, Eastern Regional President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), expressed gratitude to the Regional Health Directorate for their support.
He encouraged information providers in departments, institutions, and organizations to promptly assist journalists by delivering accurate information, ensuring consistency in public dissemination.