Media Practitioners across the country have been tasked a Non Governmental Organization (NGO), Pathfinder International to adhere to the fifteen laid down Code of Ethics for Journalists as it relates to family planning activities.
The Organisation made this call on Wednesday while advocating for an increase in funding for family planning activities so as to address the alarming maternal mortality rate.
Speaking at a three day capacity building on Ethical Reporting of Family Planning activities for Journalists from various States in Abuja, the Senior Programme Advisor, Reproductive Health, Pathfinder International, Dr. Sakina Bello said the media has played major roles in ensuring women have access to high-quality, respectful maternal care from their homes to the health facilities.
The workshop according to Dr Bello was organized to increase the knowledge of media personnel in Advance Family Planning (AFP) and the ethics of journalism as it relates to family planning reports.
According to her “the Media is very powerful and will continue to train and empower journalists. The media has played major roles in ensuring women have access to high-quality, respectful maternal care from their homes to the health facilities and we want more of such reports”.
She further lamented that, lack of adequate funding was largely responsible for increase in the rate of death from abortion related issues for women and girls in the country.
Also, the Media and Communications Officer, Pathfinder International, Bayo Ewuola, said in addition to increase funding for family planning activities in Nigeria, there should be law and policy to reduce the rate of death among women and girls in the country.
He described as worrisome, the maternal and mortality ratio of 512 death from every 100,000 lives in Nigeria, pointing out that family planning is the most cost-effective approach to reduce death among the women and gilts in Nigeria.
He disclosed that in every year, incidence of abortion is 49 out of every 1,000 women of age between 15 and 49 years, adding that “apart from the need for increase funding for family planning activities, empowerment of health workers in the country is very key”.
One of the Resource Persons, Diego Okenyodo while taking Journalists through the Ethics of Journalism and the need to do effective family planning advocacy journalism, charged the media to adhere to laid down fifteen Code of Ethics for Journalists in Nigeria.
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