By Stephen V. Lansana
A Science journalist, Kemo Cham, who is also Editor of ManoReporters and a member of Internews Health Journalists Network (IHJN) recently hosted a-two-day Media Science Café, at the conference room of Social Workers Sierra Leone along Siaka Steven Street in Freetown.
The event which was held on December 21-22, 2023 was organized by Internews, through the Internews Health Journalists Network (IHJN), in collaboration with the Christian Health Association of Sierra Leone (CHASL). The events brought journalists, religious leaders, health workers and a civil society campaigner involved in the promotion of Covid-19 vaccines and vaccines for other preventable diseases.
The purpose of the two-day event was to enable health journalists discuss ways of dispelling rumours and misconceptions hindering public acceptance of lifesaving commodities, with particular focus on Covid-19 vaccines.
Media Science Cafés are a growing phenomenon, organized with the aim of providing members of the public the opportunity to interact with scientists in a casual, nonprofessional setting.
Mr. Kemo Cham said the gathering not only provided an opportunity for the journalists, health workers and religious leaders to discuss issues of common interest, but it also created a platform to recruit and train a dedicated core of journalists focusing on health reporting.
“The threat of Covid-19 is still upon us, and because of widespread misconceptions, uptake is low. Public awareness is required to change that and journalists are crucial in this regard,” said Mr Cham. “The media café was organized as part of an initiative to promote Covid-19 vaccine equity in Africa. It explores faith-based approaches, with the goal of getting more shots in arms and help prevent further spread of the disease and the emergence of new variants.”
Martha Kanu, Programme Manager of CHASL, at the event on Thursday said that the project had revealed the persistence of a lot of misconceptions which require public awareness to change them.
“Journalists can make a huge difference as you have the platforms to pass the message in a way that we cannot do it,” she said.
Princess George, a health worker, outlined the role of her institution in the efforts to promote vaccine confidence, noting that despite successes in many of their target communities, fake news continues to pose a huge challenge to expanding the gains.
“Attitude among some communities is still a big challenge and we think that it is because of lack of proper information” she said, adding: “If they have the right information, they will fully accept the vaccines.”
Muslim Cleric and Imam, Alhaji Momodou T. Koroma, spoke on the Muslim view of protection against diseases.
He cited Quranic verses that march scientific messages promoting the idea of vaccination against preventable diseases.
Reverend Ali Saidu Conteh explained the role played by his ministry in encouraging members to understand the concept of COVID19 and the essence of getting a vaccine.
He disclosed that they introduced medical Sunday during which health workers were given the opportunity to teach the congregation on COVID19 and other diseases.
All the guests had time to engage the journalists on a wide range of issues, including misconceptions about the way the press operates. Both sides sought clarifications on how they each operate, thereby paving the way for future collaboration.
It’s a two-year program which commenced last year, dubbed “Promoting COVID-19 Vaccine Equity through Faith-based Networks in Africa” or (COV-FaB), and it is being implemented by the US-based IMA World Health, with funding from the Osprey Foundation.
IMA is collaborating with the Africa Christian Health Associations Platform (ACHAP) in the initiative, which is designed to strengthen the targeted Christian Health Associations with a focus on Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe.
Overall, COV-FaB intends to help strengthen capacity throughout the partner organizations to ensure preparedness for future health emergencies.
In Sierra Leone, Internews is supporting CHASL in developing contextualized communications strategies which build vaccine literacy and confidence at the community level and provide opportunities for collaboration between journalists, faith leaders and health professionals in delivering reliable, culturally sensitive public health communications.