By Sani Adamu Hassan
The Vice Chancellor of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi, Professor Ibrahim Hassan Garba, has called on journalists to contribute their quota toward the success of Child Mortality and Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS), stressing the Journalists role in the fight against child mortality.
Declaring the workshop open on Monday, Prof Garba emphasized that the media plays a central role in connecting scientific findings with the realities of everyday life.
He urged participants to use the training not merely as a professional routine, but as an opportunity to become advocates for child survival.
He pointed out that while CHAMPS continues to generate important data on the causes of child mortality, the impact of such information depends on how well it is communicated to the public.
Prof. Garba noted that journalists have the power to translate complex health data into stories that resonate with families, communities, and decision-makers.
On his part, the Principal Investigator of CHAMPS, Dr Muhammad Bashir Faruk said that the National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) 2023/2024, indicated that Bauchi State has a high rate of neonatal, infant and child mortality.
He further noted that, CHAMPS is out to investigate these deaths and the Journalists are expected to write stories that give policy makers accurate information to take actions that will prevent these mortalities.
Speaking on behalf of the participants, Chairman of the Bauchi State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Umar Sa’idu commended CHAMPS for organizing the training for journalists, while assuring that Journalists would key into the project to effectively propagate it’s activities as well as engaging in advocacy for success.
Our Correspondent report that about 30 Journalists were selected from various media organizations in the state to be part of the training workshop.
