Aurum Institute Ghana climaxes 5th anniversary with health-reporting workshop for journalists

The Aurum Ghana Institute, a healthcare organization, has equipped journalists with the requisite knowledge to report and fact-check health-related stories to ensure their consumers are properly informed.

The workshop was held at the Tomreik hotel in Accra on Wednesday, June 29, 2022.

Speaking at the training, Ms. Jabinah Anaman, acting country director of the Aurum Ghana Institute, stated that most media personalities, who are key in the dissemination of health-related information, sometimes lack the requisite knowledge, making such information less factual.

She noted that it is critical the media, which has undoubtedly a very powerful and trusted institution, receive this training to be able to disseminate the right information to the public.

“So, in that respect, it is important that any health-related information the journalists put out should be correct since anything less could harm the consumer.

“You (media) are more trusted regarding information dissemination, so we are confident this training will equip you with the right skill set to inform the public on the right health issues appropriately,” she noted.

Speaking at the event were Mr. Rabiu Alhassan of Fact-Check Ghana and Nana Kofi Quakyi, the programme manager for IMPAACT 4 C19 at the Aurum Ghana Institute.

Rabiu Alhassan, who is also a former journalist, advised journalists to be cautious about the information they feed the public, especially the health-related ones. He said they should first do fact-checking to know its authenticity before.

Nana Kofi Quakyi, in his presentation, enlightened the journalists about COVID-19 issues. He advised journalists to be cautious in their attempts to report cases of COVID-19 to avoid fear and panic.

Aurum Institute Ghana is a pan-African organisation working to advance health science and innovation, through research and policy formulation, for the greater good of the public.

The organization was founded in 2017 as a subsidiary of the Aurium Institute Group, which has its headquarters in South Africa and other branches in several African countries, including Mozambique, Eswatini, Lesotho, and even the United States of America.