Derrick Botsyoe appointed project officer for Media Alliance in Tobacco Control and Health

The Board o f Directors of the Media Alliance in Tobacco Control and Health, (MATCOH) - a civil society organization advocating for policies, regulations and programs to reduce the use of tobacco and its related substances for an improved health condition in Ghana, hasappointed Mr. Derick Kwame Botsyoe as its Project officer.

The appointment took effect from Monday May 22, 2022.

Mr. Derick K. Botsyoe - a journalist and a member of the Alliance for more than Four (4) years has previously worked with the Pan-African Television, BusinessWeek Ghana, Ghananewsonline.com.gh and GhanaNewsTelevision. Until recently he was the host of Healthy Morning - the prime morning show on Health and Safety Television (HSTV) in Accra.

Mr. Botsyoe has also served in project management positions with various Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) in Ghana. He served as the project officer for Evangelical Community Mission; Centre for Humanity and Integrated Development, and also served as the Project Coordinator for White Ribbon (Ghana) - the world’s largest men movement against male violence against women and girls, headquartered in Canada.

Mr. Derick Botsyoe is a product of Education and Communication from the University of Education, Winneba, with a certificate in Project Management.

“The Board and Executive Committee of the Alliance are excited with the new addition to the project team and believe that together, the alliance can deliver a tobacco free society with a robust health sector ready and able to take care of all persons without any form of discrimination,” stated Mr Jeorge Wilson Kingson, who is the Chairman of MATCOH.

He described the appointment of Mr Botsyoe as a “boost to tobacco control in Ghana as it will cushion the delivery of key objectives of the Alliance. He is coming on board with loads of experience in successful project management, social change and advocacy. We celebrate his addition to the tobacco control family in Ghana”.

Media Alliance in Tobacco Control and Health (MATCOH) is a not-for-profit coagulation of media practitioners with passion and strong drive to advocate for policies, regulations and programs that drastically reduce the use of tobacco and its related substances in Ghana.

MATCOH focuses on designing training and media campaigns targeted at prevention and cessation of tobacco products and usage, with a key objective of shaping tobacco-related knowledge, opinions, attitudes, and behaviours among individuals and within communities in the country.

MATCOH has over the years-initiated strategies of tobacco control through the use of media tools such as news coverage, press conferences and releases, media campaigns for tobacco control and as a source for relevant information on media efforts in tobacco control at various stakeholder engagements on Tobacco Control in Ghana.

As a major Civil Society Organization (CSO) in Ghana, MATCOH has helped in sanitizing the media space in Ghana by flagging down advertisements that promote Tobacco and tobacco related substances.