Prof. Pate Urges Media To Deploy New Approach In Reporting Maternal Related Issues
By Samuel Luka, Bauchi
Media Guru, Professor Umaru Ali Pate has urged journalists in Nigeria to deploy new approach in disseminating informations that are capable of changing the behavior of people towards child health.
Professor Pate was speaking at a Media Dialogue organized by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on first 1,000 Days of a Child’s Life, held at Emerald Hotel Gombe, Gombe state on Tuesday.
According to him, the media has a great responsibility in helping to improve the quality of child and maternal health in the country, adding that, statistics regarding child health are quite worrying and deplorable.
Prof Ali Pate who is the Vice Chancellor, Federal University Kashere in Gombe state said ensuring child’s life it is a collective responsibility.
He reminded the Media of its responsibility to influence government policies at the local, state and the federal levels.
The university Don further explained that through media influence, policy makers would be touched to create conducive environment, provide functional facilities, dedicated personnel that are ready to work.
He added that media can influence the government to make provisions that can help to sustain public lives that individuals and communities cannot be able to do due to the level of poverty in the society.
“So, government has the responsibility to do that by coming up with policies. There is the need to focus on preventive aspect of medicine.
“The duty of the media should be, to change the behavior of our people for them to develop positive attitude towards healthy practices, towards issues that can promote good health, ensure the safety of children as well as protect the lives of our mothers,” he added.
He further averred that without attitudinal changes, children will easily become diseased thereby, proving difficult to treat them.
“The clinics themselves would be overwhelmed, so we have to invest in preventive aspect of medicine, equip the people with the right information and the skill of how to live healthy, eat healthy, how they can maintain healthy environment”, he said.
The Vice Chancellor said by doing so, the cost of equipping hospitals, the speed, the length as well as the volume of going to hospitals would reduced which will enable the government to focus on funding other serious issues.