KAKATA, Margibi – A one-day training session for media workers and network organizations has taken place in Kakata, Margibi County. The training took place on Oct. 2, in the conference hall of the C.H. Rennie Hospital.

It was organized by the Ministry of Health and its partners. The training brought together scores of journalists from radio and television stations and newspapers across the country. Several other organizations including the Press Union of Liberia, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and Health Communication Capacity Collaborative also attended the event.

According to the organizers, the training was aimed at acquainting journalists and media actors with the mission of the Ministry of Health. It also sought to inform them about the ministry’s pillars of investment package and post-Ebola response plan, especially in the areas of integrated disease surveillance and response, risk communication, and engagement.

The Acting Incident Management System Chair and Director of Disease Prevention and Control, Thomas Nagbe, said the media is a critical part of health service delivery systems. He said that under his leadership, the ministry is developing draft media kits for integrated disease surveillance and response that will be validated soon with the engagement of the Liberian media.

Nagbe added that the Ministry will also conduct training focusing on reporting on health-related issues.

“We’ve realized in all sincerity how much we can do, how much we can accomplish having the media fully engaged and being a part of the entire process,” he said.

The President of the Press Union of Liberia, Abdullah Kamara, praised the organizers for the training. He stressed the continuous collaboration of the media and the health sector in telling the stories of health services in the country.

Kamara said PUL was celebrating 51 years of existence this month with the theme, “Building media partnership to tell the full Liberian story.”

“We cannot tell the full Liberian story if we don’t tell the story of [healthcare] in our country,” Kamara said.

The PUL president said media practitioners needed to have basic understanding about the health sector. He hoped that the training would equip journalists with that basic knowledge on how to report on the little issues that can cause a great catastrophe.

He said he was pleased that the Health Reporters Network, a member of the PUL, was part of the training and promised the union’s continuous support to the network.

For his part, the president of the Health Reporters Network of Liberia, Victor Sieh, praised the organizers and the PUL for the recognition. He also promised to use the knowledge acquired to improve the reportage of his members, especially on health related issues.

Yolondo Freeman a representative of the Center for Disease Control and Luwaga Liliane, WHO Social Mobilization and lead consultant also praised the MOH-media partnership and promised their continuous supports.