Both journalists, Nike Adebowale-Tambe and Mariam Ileyemi, have written extensively about health and have been commended for their work in the sector.
Two health journalists on PREMIUM TIMES' Development Desk and 28 others have been selected to participate in the first Epidemiology, Infodemiology and Social and Behaviour Change/Risk Communication Media Fellowship (MEDIA-EIS FELLOWSHIP).
Both journalists- Nike Adebowale-Tambe, and Mariam Ileyemi, have written extensively about health and have been commended for their work in the sector.
The MEDIA-EIS Fellowship is a capacity-building programme initiated to develop the knowledge, and skills of journalists working in the public health space through comprehensive training on Basic Epidemiology, Infodemiology, and Social and Behaviour Change (SBC)/Risk Communication.
Other fellows include Nurudeen Akewushola of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Sodiq Ojuroungbe of the Punch Newspapers, Kazeem Biriowo of the Nigerian Tribune and Misbahu Elhamza of the Nigerian Health Watch, among others.
About Fellowship
The fellowship is a collaborative project of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET), and Breakthrough ACTION-Nigeria (BA-Nigeria) and led by Johns Hopkins Centre for Communication Programmes Field Epidemiology.
The purpose of the programme, according to NCDC, is to strengthen Nigeria's capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to health events through effective science communication, understanding of risk communication to develop SBC content, and coordinated management of misinformation.
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"Empowering journalists with basic knowledge of epidemiological concepts and others required to help them accurately and responsibly report on the science of disease outbreaks will enhance Nigeria's preparedness and response," it said.
"A critical part of combatting public health events is accurate and timely reporting by media experts."
NCDC said fellows will be exposed to relevant research, disease and thematic technical working groups, key decision makers, and timely information that will aid them in delivering policy-impacting and perception-shaping content.
The fellowship is also expected to create a cadre of media experts who will play a more qualitative role in outbreak coverage and reportage as well as critical roles in ensuring accountability, transparency, and upholding best practices in finance, equity, and human rights observation during outbreaks.
NCDC said the programme would help fellows get recognised as public health influencers, and become part of a network of select media practitioners with expertise in science communication to effectively report on public health events and emergencies.
It added that fellows in the first cohort would become mentors and coaches for future cohorts.
Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe
