DOH, USAID Launch Media Grant on TB Coverage

The Department of Health (DOH) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) opened recently a media fellowship grant for Filipino journalists to produce stories that help tuberculosis (TB) care get back on track.

Twenty journalists will be awarded a seed fund to develop in-depth reports about the urgency to find and start on treatment as many Filipinos with TB as possible. DOH and USAID’s TB Innovations and Health Systems Strengthening Project launched the #TBFreePH Journalists’ Grant on TB Coverage on July 1 and held an online training workshop for over 100 journalists.

“Media stories that inspire and move people to action can help us allay the fears of Filipino in seeking proper health care,” said Katherine Tilout, Deputy Director of USAID’s Office of Health.

Dr. Beverly Lorraine Ho, director of DOH Disease Prevention and Control Bureau, cited the important role of the Philippine media in setting the public health agenda. “Universal health care is difficult to explain. But your stories can help our fellow Filipinos realize that getting access to proper health care at the right time at the right place is possible,’ said Dr. Ho.

The DOH reported a drastic reduction in the number of TB cases notified to DOH. “TB cases dropped by 35% in 2020. Fewer reported cases means that many Filipinos with TB are left untreated and may spread the infection to their loved ones,” said Dr. Ana Marie Celina Garfin, medical specialist and program manager of the DOH National TB Control Program. The Philippines has the highest TB incidence rate in Asia, with 554 cases per 100,000 people.

The grant initiative is managed by Evident Strategic Research and Consulting Inc. Evident carried out a media scanning of TB reporting in the Philippines and revealed that the mention of TB in mass media and social media increased threefold in 2020 with most stories and posts linking TB with COVID-19. Out of over 5,000 articles scanned, 641 stories were analyzed to determine compliance of journalists to the global USAID TB health reporting guidelines.

“We found out that many stories lack messaging on call to action. What should people do? This is what we hope to achieve with this media grant program,” said Raya Albarece, Evident project manager, sharing a handy guide on responsible TB coverage for journalists.

Interested journalists must submit their story proposals by July 10 via tbfree@evident.ph. Media fellows will be announced on July 26 and must be able to publish or air their stories by September 3 as part of the observance of the National Lung Month in August. The three best stories will be awarded on September 10.