Patna, Sept 25, 2014: Over 60 journalists from print, electronic and digital media from the states of Bihar, Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi along with academia and health professionals converged in Patna to deliberate on strategies for greater media engagement in highlighting the urgency of reducing deaths of children due to fatal diseases which can be prevented by Routine Immunization.
Minister of Health, Government of Bihar, Mr. Ramdhani Singh inaugurated the two-day workshop in the presence of Dr. N.K. Sinha, State Immunization Officer; Dr. Yameen Mazumder, Chief, UNICEF, Bihar; Dr. Panna Chowdhary, President, IAP; and Ms. Neena Jha, Assistant Director, IPRD. The workshop was organised by UNICEF and Samyak Foundation with the support of the Government of Bihar. The workshop was the first of the three workshops which will cover the nine low Routine Immunization (RI) coverage states in the country.
“A child’s death impacts the whole family and we have to understand the agony of the mother who loses her child. Immunization is essential for reduction of child mortality. Therefore, Routine Immunization must be turned into ‘Essential Immunization’.” The Health Minister, Mr Ramdhani Singh, said that media can spread the reach of immunization to the last mile.
The Bihar government was committed towards providing full RI coverage against vaccine preventable diseases. He added, that it would be better that teachers are also made part of this campaign to save our children.
Dr Satish Gupta, Health Specialist, UNICEF emphasized the need to expand immunization coverage to reduce under-five mortality rates. Dr. N.K. Sinha, State Immunization Officer, Patna, spoke of inter-district variations in immunization coverage in Bihar. According to AHS, 2012-2013, Bihar, the best performing district is Madhubani with the highest rate of 87.8% and Kishanganj has the lowest 32.2%. The best performers followed by Madhubani are Khagaria (84.8%), Samastipur (84.3%), Purnia (80.9%), and Madhepura (80.2%). The worst performers are Kishanganj (32.2%), East Champaran (44%), Jamui (50%), West Champaran (53.9%) and Araria (59.9%). For Patna district the rate stands at 76%. One of the reasons for inter-district disparities is geographical inaccessibility resulting in high number of left-outs and drop-outs.
Dr. Yameen Mazumder of UNICEF, Bihar, said, “RI is one of the most cost effective public health interventions, preventing around 4 lakh child deaths each year in India.” Media is an extremely important stakeholder and a valuable partner in reaching out to both the policy makers and the masses and can be instrumental in ensuring the reach of RI in geographical inaccessible areas of Bihar.
Dr. Panna Chowdhary, Executive Director, Indian Academy of Paediatrician (IAP) and Vice President, Child Health Foundation, highlighted that pneumonia and diarrhea are the top-most causes of child deaths in India. He explained how Pentavalent and Rota virus vaccines can help reduce the number of children dying under 5 years.
Rahul Dev, Managing Trustee, Samyak Foundation, New Delhi, in his remarks said that media has a dual role in creating community demand for RI through awareness and creating the right pressure for delivery of services on agencies responsible for RI. He said that media must dispel myths regarding vaccinations, and fears about side effects of vaccines.
Radio Mirchi RJ, Shashi, demonstrated how messages on immunization schedules can be disseminated creatively through radio spots.
While deliberating on this issue, participants also discussed the challenges regarding the quality of services reaching hard-to-reach and minority communities. Inadequate number of health journalists and lack of in-depth knowledge on the issue were major deterrents in ensuring higher and better coverage of health issues.
On the first day of the workshop participants visited cold chain points and immunization sessions. They had first-hand exposure to the entire immunization process. They engaged in group work exercises to brainstorm on various challenges of media coverage of RI immunization. These included how to increase media space; improving the quality of coverage; media engagement with social influencers; the use of social media and the role of media during AEFI (Adverse Events Following Immunization).
Dr. Ghyansham Sethy, UNICEF, Dr. Rahul Singh from WHO, Sonia Sarkar, Communication Officer, UNICEF, India, Nipurnh Gupta, Communication Specialist, UNICEF Bihar also shared their views at the workshop.
The key recommendations of the workshop included creating a network of health journalists, increased interface between government, civil society and media and capacity building of government officials on handling and responding to the media. All the journalists were encouraged to join the online health network created for them.
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| Group Photograph of participants |
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