Kalimpong, 15 December 2023: On the initiative of the Eastern Himalayan Journalists Union (EHJU) as well Kalimpong Press Club an interaction was held on 15th December 2023 among the Journalists of Kalimpong and officials of UNICEF West Bengal.Suchorita Bardhan, Communication Specialist of UNICEF and Amitava Das, media strategist consultant were present in the meeting.
Problems of children like child labour, child crime, child abuse, child trafficking and solutions related to needs, rights and mental and physical health and role of media to address these and method of presentation and coverage of information were discussed during the interaction. Discussion was also made on the subjects related to covering of the news or writing stories on matters related to children, and the ethics of journalism, and acts and rules to be followed. A.K.Rai, Secretary of EHJU briefed the members about the objective of the interaction while Suchorita Bardhan highlighted the activities of UNICEF in the related field.
Bardhan explained about the fields and facts related to children that are ignored by most of the media persons.
“Unicef has been working with the government of India and the ministry of health and family welfare on immunisation programmes for a long time. We have supported governments of various states in trying to orient, promote and also create awareness and mass mobilisation so that children get vaccines at the right time,” UNICEF communication specialist Suchorita Bardhan said.
Media can also play a key role in helping the West Bengal government and Unicef in carrying out 100 per cent immunisation drives in the state by spreading the message that vaccines are safe and effective in preventing diseases.
Media’s role is very important in creating awareness among the general population about government health services and in clearing doubts on immunisation programmes,” she added.
According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) report of 2019-2020, eighty-eight per cent of children in West Bengal, within the age group 12-23 months, have received all basic vaccinations against six major childhood illnesses –tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, and measles.
In West Bengal, mothers whose last birth were protected against neonatal tetanus, was 94.6 per cent with 96 per cent in urban areas and 94.2 per cent in rural areas, according to the NFHS-5 report.
Positive and evidence-based reporting by the media helped the government to remove panic among people about any epidemic or a new disease.
If all children are to receive all their vaccines on time, it is the parents who have to be mobilised and made aware about the importance of vaccination, Bardhan said.
She also explained about the common hurdles faced by journalists while covering the news related to children. She stated that many a times the facilities and provisions provided by the government does not reach the children of remote areas.
Media’s role is crucial in creating awareness among people about government health services and also for clearing myths and doubts about vaccines.
These matters are to be investigated by the reporters and presented as news or stories with proper data. And it will definitely make an impact and the actual beneficiaries will be benefitted when proper enquiry and actions take place.
The present day problems of the students, early marriage, underage pregnancy, health problems like malnourishment, negligence in vaccination also can be exposed by the media personnel in different manners.
In the second half of the interaction it was proposed that a strategy to combat these problems are to be sorted out by organizing a workshop for the media personnel of the district of Kalimpong. It decided to jointly hold a three days’ workshop for the media personnel in 2024.