Health promotion in the media
The mainstreaming health promotion in the media programme was established by the WHO Regional Office to equip media professionals with basic journalism skills and enhance their knowledge on priority health issues with the ultimate goal of enhancing health literacy in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
The Region is facing unprecedented health challenges and with financial constraints on national health authorities to address issues, such as the growing incidence of noncommunicable diseases, much of their focus is often on costly curative care. Recognizing the role played by the media in influencing public behaviour, the programme aims to create a cadre of qualified health journalists to raise the public awareness and bring about behavioural change, particularly among youth and high-risk groups and to promote preventive health to improve the health of populations.
The programme has been developed in cooperation with the Arab States Broadcasting Union, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Agence-France Presse Foundation and a number of regional media and public health experts.
