Polio Reporter Training
VOA-CDC POLIO PROJECT: KANO ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION JULY 18TH, 2013
The Kano Roundtable Discussion (RT) of the VOA-CDC Polio Project took place at Freedom Radio Kano on the 18th of July 2013 with twenty nine participants drawn from various media organizations including Journalists Against Polio (JAP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Kano State Immunization Programme officer from SPHCDA, Traditional and Religious leaders and Association of Polio survivors. VOA-CDC Polio Project’s Nasiru Yakubu and Mohammed Salisu Rabiu coordinated the discussion of ways to eradicate the virus in the State, the North and Nigeria at large.
Representative of WHO, Dr. Suleiman Abdullahi, and the Kano State Immunization Program Officer, Dr. Sharif Yahaya Musa, spoke extensively on the causes, signs and prevention of polio. They stressed that regular immunization is the best way of eradicating the polio Type-1 and Type-3 in Nigeria.
Sheikh Mohammad Nasir Adam, an Islamic scholar in Kano, quoted verses of the Holy Qur’an and some relevant Hadiths of Prophet Mohammed where Muslims are directed to embrace immunization to guard against bodily harm from fellow human beings or diseases such as polio.
Thirty nine polio cases were recorded so by mid-2013 in the country; four of which were in Kano alone. The RT participants unanimously concluded by advocating for more emphasis on roundtable discussions with traditional and religious leaders, journalists, disabled people, and polio survivors as the most effective forum for deliberating issues of polio eradication.
VOA-CDC HAUSA POLIO BROADCASTS PROJECT: JIGAWA ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION AND CAPACITY BUILDING TRAINING FOR JOURNALISTS, July 24
The Jigawa State Roundtable Discussion of the VOA-CDC Polio Project held at Freedom Radio Dutse on the 24th of July 2013. Representatives of the World Health Organization-WHO, the Jigawa State Health System Board, the Jigawa State Ministry of Health, Traditional Rulers, Religious Leaders, Media Organizations and Women Groups in the State participated in the discussion. The meeting was particularly aimed at examining the measures taken by authorities in the State for the success of the fight against polio which should be emulated by other States to completely eradicate the scourge in Nigeria.
The VOA-CDC one-day capacity building workshop for VOA Stringers and Local Producers of Health programming held in Dutse, Jigawa State on the 25th of July, 2013. The theme of the workshop was ‘Effective Reporting of Polio’ in Jigawa State that is leading the country’s fight against polio.
Eighteen journalists from various media organizations in Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi and Kaduna, and the Voice of America participated in the workshop. At the end, participants expressed satisfaction with the deliberations, and commended VOA for organizing the workshop. They also stressed the need for more similar workshops.