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StatesPosted at: Jul 2 2016 9:45PM


Health should be included in the agenda of the political parties:Pachauri

Lucknow, Jul 2 (UNI) Pankaj Pachauri, former Media Advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office of Manmohan Singh and former editor, NDTV, has called on the media and others to press the political parties to include health issues in their political agenda to improve the health system in the country. " Like in Uttar Pradesh political parties are raking up Kairana and other issues similarly the matter of the health system should also include in their agenda," he said while speaking as a chief guest in a Media Round table meet here today organised by Uttar Pradesh State Accredited Correspondents Committee (UPSACC). Mr Pachauri while explaining how there is a need for editorial prioritization of the health related issues irrespective of the usual brand of news stories that normally dominate the headlines. “Global politics is increasingly being influenced by issues of health. Be it the recent exit of Britain from the European Union or the US presidential elections. It is important that journalism on health drives the political agenda in the upcoming elections in UP”, he said. The senior journalist claimed that in UP too health related issues dominate politics and the previous BSP government failed to retain the power in 2012 with one of the issue being the corruption in the health department in the NRHM scam. The event saw an overwhelming participation by senior journalists, Lucknow-based editors and bureau chiefs of leading state and national level print and electronic news outlets. The meet was held to discuss the media’s constructive role in highlighting issues related to Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) and Nutrition and apprise them of the positive developments in the health and nutrition landscape across the state with the hope that these issues may find voice through informed journalism and greater editorial space. Pranshu Mishra, President, UPSACC, said,“The UPSACC hopes to use its platforms to raise the discourse on key issues that confront the state of Uttar Pradesh. Health is directly related to the demographic dividend and the growth of the state. It is important that informed, accurate and consistent journalism happens on the issues of the health of mothers, children, newborns and their nutrition.” It was revealed that preventable diseases like diarrhea and pneumonia kill tens of thousands of children in UP every year. Yet still, over half of all children under 2 years of age in UP are at risk of contracting such preventable diseases due to poor immunization compliance. More than 650 children die of malnutrition in the state every single day and more than 90 per cent of adolescent girls in the state are anemic, placing them at a greater risk of becoming weak mothers, with weak babies in the future. Sudhir Mishra, Resident Editor, Nav Bharat times Lucknow edition said, “For informed and accurate health journalism, it important that journalists both current and aspiring, are trained to report on the technical aspects of health.” Representing the Urdu media, Asad Rizvi from Subahnama said, “It is vital to make health related information available to the masses in their language so that they could benefit from increased awareness on schemes and practices.” Shilpa Nair, Project Director, Global Health Strategies, outlined the current landscape of RMNCH+A and nutrition in Uttar Pradesh. She added that “Though indicators such as Infant Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Ratio are on the decline, there is still much work to be done at both the programmatic and policy level on these issues.” It was discussed how the media should continue to focus on maternal, child and adolescent health and nutrition related issues especially in the run up to the next assembly elections which usually witnesses a shrinking of space for such issues. The event also saw a frontline health workerand gram pradhansharing their experiences about how they used thoughtful and innovative strategies to overcome gaps and challenges in the health system to ensure quality health care services reached their communities. The participants also agreed upon the use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp for the dissemination of accurate information on maternal and child health and nutrition issues. In the end it was decided that media organizations from leading state and national level organizations will practice informed, evidence based and consistent journalism on these issues, in which they will focus on exposing gaps in the system while also highlighting the various successes in public health at the community and higher levels. UNI MB CJ PR 2145
Tags: #Health should be included in the agenda of the political parties:Pachauri
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