The Union Zimbabwe Office and the Health Journalists Association of Zimbabwe (HEJAZ) have launched a partnership and mentoring programme to increase awareness of TB, multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and TB-HIV, and to empower journalists to report on these and other related health issues correctly and effectively. The Union and HEJAZ have selected eight journalists from national print, broadcast and online news outlets to participate in the media mentoring programme, the first of its kind to be offered with the Zimbabwe National TB Control Programme (NTP).
Zimbabwe ranks on all three of the World Health Organization (WHO) lists of high-burden countries for TB, MDR-TB and TB-HIV. Media attention to these issues is an invaluable tool for community outreach, education and awareness of the diseases, as well as an important advocacy platform to get tuberculosis included in social, economic and political agendas.
The Union’s communications staff in Zimbabwe worked with HEJAZ to identify gaps in knowledge and coverage of TB issues and are working with journalists to correct that, with additional guidance from the NTP. The mentorship programme will run for six months, during which period each participating journalist will produce at least six articles on tuberculosis or related issues.
The Union Zimbabwe Office also hosted a two-day media advocacy workshop in February in Kadoma, Zimbabwe. Participating journalists, including the eight mentees, visited the Rimuka Polyclinic, an integrated TB-HIV care site, where they listened to stories from members of a support group of people living with HIV, many of whom are TB survivors. They were also given a tour of the facility, where they learned more about TB and integrated TB-HIV treatment and could observe how patient management works from start to finish.
Representatives from the NTP, The Union, the WHO, and two civil society organisations, Rehabilitation and Prevention of Tuberculosis (RAPT) and the Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV (ZNNP+), spoke with the 19 journalists in attendance.
This partnership has resulted in a significant increase in reporting on tuberculosis, with one article now being published nearly every week, compared to previously sporadic coverage. The Union Zimbabwe Office is also conducting a knowledge, attitudes and practices survey to assess how informed communities are regarding TB in Zimbabwe. These results will be used to devise a communications strategy for more targeted interventions in the community.
The Union hopes to expand the journalist mentorship programme to support its ongoing success and will continue to organise media advocacy workshops. For further details, please contact Dr Christopher Zishiri at czishiri@theunion.org.