Media can play an effective role in increasing awareness about public health issues, said Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Vice Chancellor Prof Masood Hameed Khan at a certificate distribution ceremony of the first Introductory Short Course for Health Journalists held at the Dow Medical College (DMC). The introductory course is a capacity-building programme of a series of short courses for health journalists being offered by the DUHS in collaboration with the Association of Health Journalists Pakistan. Speaking as the chief guest on the occasion, Khan said proper understanding of health issues by media personnel is very important. He said the DUHS would provide computer and technical training to the children of health journalists to help them develop their future careers. As part of its social responsibility, he added, the university is already providing computer and technical training to the children of the faculty members of the DUHS and other varsities. Khan said for the first time in Pakistan, the DUHS has introduced this course for health journalists to enhance their professional skills of reporting on health issues. DUHS Pro-Vice Chancellor/DMC Principal Prof M Umer Farooq said health reporting is not an easy job and the media has to play its role by creating awareness among the masses. Farooq said raising the quality of public health and medical reporting is one of the aims of this course along with developing a deeper understanding of health sciences in journalists who would be able to develop the skills to quickly identify unreported stories regarding public health, properly analyse them and then accurately report the important health issues.
