…as NewsSpace writer wins NAC award
BY NEWSSPACE REPORTER
The media has a critical role in the HIV response, as it has the important mandate of giving the public the correct information, Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr Douglas Mombeshora has said.
Minister Mombeshora revealed this on Wednesday at the 8th National AIDS Council Media Awards Prize Giving Ceremony which was held in Harare.
And at the awards ceremony whose purpose is to celebrate journalists who consistently and accurately report on HIV and AIDS issues; NewsSpace Reporter, Munyaradzi Doma was awarded 2nd Position in the Online Category.
Minister Mombeshora revealed that the awards have now “become the most consistent and prestigious recognition of media excellence in reporting and covering HIV and related diseases.”
He added: “Zimbabwe adopted the multi-sectoral approach to HIV, which has enabled various sectors to participate and contribute to national efforts in taming the pandemic.
“The media has therefore always been part of the response to HIV from when the virus was first identified.
“It was the media that first raised awareness and educated people about HIV. Even though initial reports were fear inducing, they did what they were expected to achieve and our people became aware of HIV.”
Dr Mombeshora further revealed that, “the media remains a critical enabler of development and in particular a healthy nation.
“We need vibrant media that purvey correct information to the public for better health outcomes.
“I am very pleased that the National AIDS Council took this bold step to introduce the awards, which will without a doubt, create a healthy competition, which in turn will result in improved coverage in terms of both quality and quantity of coverage.
“I have been informed that coverage of HIV and health reporting in general have improved since the introduction of these awards eight years ago.”
Dr Mombeshora also revealed that the country had achieved tremendous successes in the response to HIV as we stand at a critical juncture towards epidemic control and sustaining it.
He also revealed that latest global evidence has indicated that Zimbabwe achieved the highest HIV decline between 2010 and 2023 than any other country.
“We have also achieved the 95-95-95 targets and our people living with HIV are living longer improved lives.
“These achievements must be sustained. You will agree with me it’s not an easy task as we continue to be diverted by various other health challenges, including emergences such as COVID-19 and M-pox.
“These emergencies are providing us with critical lessons going forward, particularly the need to build a robust and broad-based health system that emphasizes universal health coverage and anchored on a sustainable primary health care system.
“An all-inclusive public funded health insurance is therefore imperative as we strengthen our health system to adequately respond to regular conditions and emergencies.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this shows that HIV does not occur in isolation as there are several social, economic and health factors that affect it. Already we are faced with rising cases of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), most of which are associated with HIV, especially cervical cancer.
“We therefore need to scale up interventions in this regard, keeping our people informed and how they can prevent the NCDs as well as creating pathways to care,” said Dr Mombeshora.
Minister Mombeshora said the media hence a critical role of informing the people as well as highlighting both successes and deficiencies of our response.
“Robust policies and programmes result from broad-based engagement that is influenced by awareness and access to information.
“There are areas in our response in which such vibrant engagement is required to address attendant gaps.
“While our 95-95-95 coverage is commendable among adults, we are still lagging behind among children.
“We are also witnessing more cases of HIV among adolescent girls and young women and key populations.
“We therefore need multi-stakeholder engagement to identify and address challenges that cause bottle necks in these areas.
“We are counting on the media to report such gaps and amplify voices of those affected so that together we can find lasting solutions to the challenges.
“While there are thousands of reporters doing the same work, there are some among them who are going an extra mile.
“They do it better because they are driven by a passion for quality and for social change, towards a better society.
“They invest that passion together with time and creativity to produce socially impacting news and feature articles. Today, ladies and gentlemen, is about celebrating those who go an extra mile – who do not wait for news but seek news and creatively report it to create social change,” he added.
He applauded all editors and journalists who are dedicated to keep the nation informed about HIV and AIDS and all other health issues surrounding the people.
In his welcome remarks at the awards, NAC Chief Executive Officer, Dr Bernard Madzima said the media awards are predicated on the need to keep the HIV story alive in the face of competing stories from other sectors and the general belief that HIV is no longer an interesting topic given our progress in preventing new cases and scaling up Anti-Retroviral Therapy coverage.
“We therefore started the media awards to revitalise coverage and promote excellence among reporters and media houses.
“Apart from the ordinary competition from economic, political and societal stories, the HIV story has faced competition from emerging epidemics such as COVID-19 and Mpox and non-communicable diseases.
“We do not seek to create competition for media coverage between HIV and other health issues but to promote integrated health reporting cognizant of the link between HIV and these issues.
“These awards are an addition to the already functional partnership that we have with the media. Our partnership includes taking both editors and journalists on media tours to some hard-to-reach communities to facilitate coverage of key interventions and media workshops.
“We also regularly support top winners of these awards to attend various international HIV conference, resources permitting,” he said.
He added that for them, the media awards are more than just about giving prizes, as they are also about making an impact in people’s lives.
“Well-wishers have responded to some of the stories journalists have covered during NAC media tours and workshops and paid school fees for a number of girls in various Sista2Sista Clubs.
“The latest in this case is a girl based in Hurungwe who received a scholarship for her university education, financed by a UK based well-wisher.
“Following stories on SASA, which is a community mobilization approach to prevent violence against women, three perpetrators of gender-based violence came forward and openly spoke to the community leaders in Shamva about how radio stories on gender-based violence in their area had led them to change their ways.
“We also have a case of one girl from a Sista2Sista Club who has been invited for on the job training at a media house to develop her interest as a journalist, after field interviews by reporters in Mhangura.
“I would also like to applaud some journalists, who I won’t mention but they pooled resources to pay school fees for needy and vulnerable girls identified during a media tour,” added Dr Madzima.
He also revealed that in line with the rules of the awards, winners were selected through media monitoring so as not to promote prize driven reporters.
“Our awards are anchored on recognition of passion, consistency and correctness.”
Journalists were awarded in the Online, Print, Electronic and Most Promising Categories, while others got certificates of appreciation for consistent reporting on HIV and AIDS issues.
