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REACH announces awards for best reporting on TB
The inaugural REACH-Lilly MDR-TB Partnership Media Awards for Excellence in TB Reporting were announced today at a programme held to celebrate the tenth anniversary of REACH, a Chennai-based non-profit committed to the fight against TB.
A jury constituted by REACH chose feature stories by Mr. Kounteya Sinha of The Times of India, New Delhi and Ms. Zubeda Hamid of The New Indian Express, Chennai as the two best entries. Through their work, both winners highlighted often-neglected aspects of TB; Mr. Sinha by focussing on the stigma that women affected by TB face and Ms. Hamid by highlighting the unparalleled contribution of community volunteers (as DOTS providers) to the TB control programme. Each winner received a citation and a cash prize of Rs 30,000.
In addition, REACH awarded a special citation to Ms. Ramya Kannan of The Hindu, in recognition of her focused efforts to highlight issues related to MDR-TB. Five media students, from Mount Carmel College in Bangalore and the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai were awarded cash prizes of Rs 3000 each, in acknowledgement of their efforts to produce news stories and short films on TB.
The awards for working journalists were evaluated by a distinguished jury including Dr. L.S.
Chauhan, Deputy Director General (TB), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India; Dr. Nevin Wilson, Director, The Union, South East Asia; Dr. P. R. Narayanan, Former Director, Tuberculosis Research Centre; Dr. Jaya Shreedhar, Technical Health Advisor, Internews Network and Dr. Arjun Rajagopal, President, REACH and Medical Director, Sundaram Medical Foundation. A panel comprising staff members of REACH chose the student winners.
“Even though India bears one-third of the world’s global TB burden, there is a general lack of awareness about TB and its consequences – most of all, that TB is completely curable. We believe that informed and accurate journalism can have a genuine impact on public understanding of tuberculosis”, said Dr. Nalini Krishnan, Director, REACH.
"Media has an extremely significant role to play. It not only heightens public awareness but also lends voice to the civil society to build up the political will for long term, effective TB control sustenance”, said Mr. Anurag Khera, Director, Corporate Affairs, Eli Lilly and Company (India).
