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Advocacy resource: engaging the media and promoting your cancer program in Africa.

ABSTRACT: To address the need for a significant increase in cancer advocacy programs in Africa, the University of Florida (UF), the Prostate Net, and the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) co-hosted the first biennial International Workshop on Cancer Advocacy for African Countries (CAAC) on November 29, 2011, one-day prior to AORTIC's 8th International Cancer Conference in Cairo, Egypt. Over 70 African cancer advocates representing about 12 African countries participated in this workshop.The primary goal of the one-day workshop was to inform, educate and empower African cancer advocates to increase the promotion of their cancer programs. The first half of the workshop consisted of five formal PowerPoint presentations focused on the following topics: (a) Understanding Your Community and Assessing your Community Health Assets and Needs; (b) Developing a successful advocacy model for your cancer program; (c) Developing a Relationship with your Elected Officials to Advocate Cancer-related Policies; (d) Engaging the Media and promoting your cancer program; and (e) Developing advocacy plans for sustainability. In this article we summarize the informational content given in the PowerPoint presentation entitled "Engaging the Media and promoting your cancer program". The content given in this article is useful as a how-to guide for both the beginner and the experienced cancer advocate who wants to establish/promote a cancer awareness program.

SUBMITTER: Reams RR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3716690 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Advocacy resource: engaging the media and promoting your cancer program in Africa.

Reams R Renee RR Odedina Folakemi T FT Pressey Shannon S

Infectious agents and cancer 20130715

To address the need for a significant increase in cancer advocacy programs in Africa, the University of Florida (UF), the Prostate Net, and the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) co-hosted the first biennial International Workshop on Cancer Advocacy for African Countries (CAAC) on November 29, 2011, one-day prior to AORTIC's 8th International Cancer Conference in Cairo, Egypt. Over 70 African cancer advocates representing about 12 African countries participated in ...[more]

PMID: 23902643

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Project description:BackgroundThe mass media have excellent potential to promote good sexual and reproductive health outcomes, but around the world, media often fail to prioritize sexual and reproductive health and rights issues or report them in an accurate manner. In sub-Saharan Africa media coverage of reproductive health issues is poor due to the weak capacity and motivation for reporting these issues by media practitioners. This paper describes the experiences of the African Population and Health Research Center and its partners in cultivating the interest and building the capacity of the media in evidence-based reporting of reproductive health issues in sub-Saharan Africa.MethodsThe paper utilizes a case study approach based primarily on the personal experiences and reflections of the authors (who played a central role in developing and implementing the Center's communication and policy engagement strategies), a survey that the Center carried out with science journalists in Kenya, and literature review.ResultsThe African Population and Health Research Center's media strategy evolved over the years, moving beyond conventional ways of communicating research through the media via news releases and newspaper stories, to varying approaches that sought to inspire and build the capacity of journalists to do evidence-based reporting of reproductive health issues. Specifically, the approach included 1) enhancing journalists' interest in and motivation for reporting on reproductive health issues through training and competitive grants for outstanding reporting ; 2) building the capacity of journalists to report reproductive health research and the capacity of reproductive health researchers to communicate their research to media through training for both parties and providing technical assistance to journalists in obtaining and interpreting evidence; and 3) establishing and maintaining trust and mutual relationships between journalists and researchers through regular informal meetings between journalists and researchers, organizing field visits for journalists, and building formal partnerships with professional media associations and individual journalists.ConclusionOur experiences and reflections, and the experiences of others reviewed in this paper, indicate that a sustained mix of strategies that motivate, strengthen capacity of, and build relationships between journalists and researchers can be effective in enhancing quality and quantity of media coverage of research.

Dataset Information

Advocacy resource: engaging the media and promoting your cancer program in Africa.

Publications

Advocacy resource: engaging the media and promoting your cancer program in Africa.

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