The Union's role in enlisting media support for India's TB control efforts has gradually gathered momentum. In the run-up to the World TB Day on 24 March, The Union South-East Asia office participated in a media awards ceremony in Delhi organised by its partner, the Resource Group for Education and Advocacy for Community Health (REACH), and Eli Lilly & Company (India) pvt. Ltd. The event honoured print journalists for excellence in TB reporting over the past year.
Awards were given to print journalists writing in both English and local languages. The jury, which included Dr Nevin Wilson, Regional Director, and Pranay Lal from the USEA, reviewed the entries looking for effective, well-researched and relevant stories on TB conveyed to a wide audience. They also looked for stories that highlighted neglected aspects of TB across regions and themes.
In the English category, senior journalist Ashok Malik was recognised for his story on the unforeseen impact of the 9/11 tragedy on TB diagnostics in India and Bhopal-based journalist Shuriah Niazi was chosen for his story on the impact of TB on mining communities in central India titled "TB deaths creating villages of widows in rural India".
In the local language category, Biju C.P was honoured for his story from Kerala which emphasised the availability of free treatment; and Anupama Kumari from Ranchi won an award for writing about the impact of industrial pollution on TB in the state of Jharkhand.
"Media can play a very important role, and my focus for 2011 will be the mining communities and Saharia tribes in the rural pockets of Madhya Pradesh", said Mr. Niazi. Ms. Kumari said the "media should reach the last man and become the voice of the voiceless".
The awards were presented by Mr Sachin Pilot, Minister of State for Communications & Information Technology. In addition to Dr Wilson from USEA, speakers included renowned scientist Prof M S Swaminathan; Mr Sanjay Gupta, Managing Director, Eli Lilly India; Dr Ashok Kumar, Deputy Director General, Central TB Division, Government of India; Dr Nalini Krishnan, Director, REACH; and Dr. Jaya Shreedhar of Internews Network. Dr Wilson spoke of the need for an online science-media centre to facilitate conversation between scientists and media on TB as a future step.
Informed journalism can have a significant impact on the public understanding of TB, and this year marked the second year of Union activities designed to engage the media.