Deadline for health: the media’s response to covering HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria in Africa

This report evaluates media coverage of HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria in five sub-Saharan Africa. Researchers analysed at least two major newspapers, both public- and private-owned, in Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi and Senegal, and identify the problems of addressing public health issues in the media. Using similar methods of content analysis and a standard template for interviews, the researchers conduct comparable studies, integrate the results, and make recommendations on increasing effective media coverage on medical issues.

The report note that there is very little coverage of health matters in the newspapers assessed. HIV/AIDS receives more coverage than TB and Malaria. The authors question whether any of the follow reasons could be the reason for the malaria and TB receiving less coverage. Could it be because:

TB and malaria are commonplace and there is comparatively widespread understanding of their causes and treatment?
There is no cure for HIV/AIDS?
The political wrangling over affordable access to treatment is a good media story?
Journalists are poorly trained and do not understand the relationship between HIV and opportunistic infections?
Or is it a result of new AIDS-targeted funding injected by international initiatives, new budget lines in development aid and a proliferation of new NGO’s focused on HIV/AIDS?

The paper makes several recommendations including the following:

The media must be encouraged and supported in improving the quality and consistency of healthcare coverage through the provision of computers, resources and health materials, training of technical staff and reporters, funding, time for research and investigation, and space in which to report their findings in detail.
Media organizations and journalism schools should develop training modules and short-term courses on the full range of health reporting with the support of nongovernmental organizations and public health institutions.
The media should integrate gender interests and inequalities with public health issues and target health information to the specific needs of girls and women.
Health budgets should have information components that could help support more education and communication on public health issues.
Health professionals should be given basic communication training on how to package health information in language that is accessible to the media and the public.
Advocacy and education efforts should aim to sensitize all stakeholders, media managers, policymakers, nongovernmental representatives and health professionals to treat public health issues, and especially HIV/AIDS, within the broader context of development and human rights.

Publisher: African Women Media Center
Year of Publication: 2007