Burkina/Nutrition: Journalists receive training from experts in the field
The Secrétariat technique chargé de la multi-sectorialité pour la Nutrition (ST-Nut) organized an exchange session with journalists this Friday, May 3, 2024 in Ouagadougou. The aim was to equip these women and men of the media on the government's undertakings in the field of nutrition, but also to discuss the communication that is made on the subject, through their various productions.
Journalists and members of ST-Nut exchanged views on Friday, March 3, 2024. Initially, the initiators of this meeting wanted to inform the media about the actions initiated by the government to combat malnutrition, a phenomenon that claims the lives of around 26,000 children every year. During the day, journalists were introduced to the National Multisectoral Nutrition Policy (PNMN).
Designed to be implemented from 2020 to 2029, this initiative covers a number of areas, including health promotion, the prevention and management of malnutrition and non-transmissible diseases, the preventionvention and management of malnutrition in emergency situations, availability and use of food products, and integrated management of water resources.
"Many efforts have already been made, and many resources injected, to make nutritional inputs available to children suffering from severe malnutrition. In terms of manifestations of malnutrition, we have severe acute malnutrition and chronic malnutrition, which is when a child is smaller than his or her height. To solve this problem, a number of programs have been set up, starting from the moment a child is conceived. These are called 1,000-day programs. They support the child from conception to the age of two. It therefore includes both infant and maternal nutrition initiatives," explained Dr Ella Compaoré, technical secretary of ST-Nut.
The event's organizers then shared their observations with journalists on their various productions on nutrition issues. In general, they expressed their appreciation of the efforts made by media men and women to inform the public. However, the content of articles and broadcasts needs to be reviewed, as many productions are imbued with falsehoods, anything which, instead of contributing to people's well-being, can produce the opposite effect. This interview was therefore a way of raising awareness among journalists, so that their channels are not used to convey messages harmful to the health of Burkinabè.
"There's a lot of information circulating on the media and various platforms you manage, which contains misinformation. There are a lot of people on your platforms who claim to be experts in nutrition, but who have neither the qualifications nor the remit to provide information, let alone advice. And because the role of the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene is to promote and protect health, we've been called upon to rectify the situation.s to rectify the situation; to ensure that any information given is as accurate as possible, because at some point, you end up scaring people. Others even take advantage of your platforms to promote their products, whereas we need to be in a logic of food diversification, if we want to promote and protect the population", explained Dr Ella Compaoré.
"No ministry makes it easy for us".
For their part, the journalists on the whole appreciated the exchanges, as several concrete examples were given on the spot, and detailed explanations were provided to show them how dangerous certain allegations are. However, one comment was repeated over and over again: "None of the ministries makes our job any easier". A journalist explained: "When you want to report something and you get in touch with a ministry, they'll tell you to write a letter. You submit it and wait for months and months. If you're very lucky, they'll call you back. And even then, by the time they do, the information is already out of date and you can no longer distribute it. Sometimes we don't even call you back. We leave you like that. We have a story on stroke that we want to cover. It will soon be two months since we submitted the request to the Ministry, but so far, nothing."
"It's often the absence of the ministry itself that leads us to contact people who talk a lot about the subjects we want to cover. The journalist isn't in a position to know that they don't have the required skills. They need to get organized at their own level. Journalists aren't there to cause trouble or annoy professionals. They're there to pass on the right information to the people. So my appeal is to receive us, listen to us and follow up our questions. If they're there, no one else will occupy our airwaves to tell untruths. But if these professionals remain silent, if those who don't have the required quality continue to express themselves, if the need arises, and if the journalist wants to provide the information, he'll fall back on his own words.When the need arises, and the journalist wants to provide information, he'll fall back on the one who speaks more because he needs to inform the population", said Rachid Sow, a journalist with Bulletin Santé.
"We'll make an effort to improve things".
Exchanges between ST-Nut and journalists enabled both parties to express their expectations. The journalists called for greater openness on the part of the Ministry. An invitation that did not fall on deaf ears, as the technical secretariat promised to take all necessary steps to get things moving. The session ended with an exchange of contacts between journalists and nutrition professionals on site.
Source: lefaso.net/
