In a bid to enhance efforts at achieving the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) target by 2030, some selected journalists have been trained on the Community Scorecard (CSC) initiative.
This is an initiative which assesses facilities in a particular community.
The two-day training workshop organized by the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN), the Ghana Health Service and the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) aimed at enhancing journalists’ skills in tracking and reporting on healthcare delivery at the local level.
The experience resource trainers took journalists through topics such as:
* Ghana’s Primary healthcare system and understanding the CHPS concept.
* Expertise France Community Scorecard project.
* Ghana’s community scorecard
* Accessing data and information from the community scorecard web platforms.
* Media ethics and reporting on vulnerable groups (TB patients & women, PLWA)
* The role of the media in the CSC project.
Through interactive sessions and group exercises, journalists gained hands-on experience in using the Community Score Card (CSC) tool to assess healthcare services in their communities.
The Deputy Director in charge of policy, planning, monitoring and evaluation at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Andrew Ayim, noted, noted on his part that the media are very critical for how they disseminate information bordering on health, hence bringing them together to discuss the community scorecard to help report on the gaps between the community and the health systems.
He said he had concerns with how the media sometimes reportss on the negatives of the health system, but he still believes it can get better.
According to Dr. Ayim, journalists can help report or bridge the gap between the community and the health systems by understanding the communities, as well as the health system, and reporting in a balanced way that helps the community and the health systems to grow together and become better for the country, so that the health of the people can improve and we will achieve our Universal Health Coverage target.
The Executive Director of AMMREN, Dr. Mrs. Charity Binka, said in an interview with the media that journalists are crucial in amplifying community voices, hence the training to empower them to demand accountability and improve healthcare outcomes.
Dr. Binka was very grateful to the Ghana Health Service for educating the media on achieving the UNC target, which is crucial.
She added that Ghana is not performing too well in its efforts, so journalists need to be empowered with information to foster advocacy, education and awareness creation among the populace.
