Report on health issues, journalists counselled

THE Media should take interest reporting on health issues so that the general public is well informed about disease outbreaks such as the Covid-9 pandemic which has claimed many lives across the globel, a media specialist, Zarina Geloo has said.

Ms Geloo said health reporting in Zambia had not been given enough attention despite many challenges that were affecting the public.

She said political reporting had taken centre stage at the expense of serious issues that affecting the people.

Ms Geloo said the majority of Zambians had little information on Covid -19 and how deadly the pandemic was because Journalists had not taken up the mandate to inform the public on health matters seriously.

She said apart from the updates that the Ministry of Health were giving the nation, there was need for the media to also research and give more details to the public.

Ms Geloo said this during a media engagement in Lusaka.

She appealed to all media institutions to create specialized health reporting desks which would see to it that the public were well informed on health matters.

Ms Gelloo however cautioned journalists to be vigilant as they report their stories to avoid sending wrong messages to the public which may have serious repercussions.

She observed that health reporting had a direct effects on people’s lives and that Journalists should ensure that they fed the people with correct information.

“There is need for all media institutions to take a lead and interest and start reporting more on health matters , from the time Covid-19 was reported in the country not much has been done and people like from rural setup have little information on how Covid-19 gets transmitted and how deadly it is,” said Ms Geloo.