Accra, Ghana –The Association of African Universities (AAU) is championing the development of media content on public health data with a focus on emerging infectious diseases such as COVID-19 in Africa.  This is being done with the support of the COVID-19 Africa Rapid Grant Fund, which is administered by the National Research Foundation of South Africa.

The aim is to support science and health journalists and communicators to produce and disseminate factual information and analysis that can be readily accessed by stakeholders to inform their decisions and actions.  This is to also reduce or eliminate the problem of  misinformation, publication of inaccurate data, and rapportage of fake news which make it difficult for the public to grasp the real issues.

The AAU is leveraging the existence of its television channel, the AAU TV, to develop a series of episodes to provoke discussions on various topical issues in this area, through its new programme “The COVID-19 Diary”. The programme adopts a hybrid of four models of science journalism which involves 1) science literacy that translates scientific information to audiences; 2) the context that facilitates the relations of science to the targeted audiences; 3) lay expertise that acknowledges the constraints of science and promotes value outside of science; and 4) public participation that promotes interactivity among stakeholders and empowers the public to engage with scientific health issues.

The first episode of ‘The COVID-19 Diary’ on the theme Understanding the Genome of SARS-CoV-2 has been rolled out and is available on:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYH0-7ijhNQ and

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AAU67/videos/649445342697862

Experts and experienced scientists who are directly involved and at the forefront of the COVID-19 research are engaged to share accurate information, as well as their experiences and give general advise to the public. The episodes will also feature guests not only from academia, but also health, social services, and non-governmental sectors, among others.

Aside producing “The COVID-19 Diary”,  the AAU TV will also be organising a series of webinars on this topic to broadly improve the knowledge base of Journalists and all stakeholders.

The output of these discussions would be processed as voice recordings, podcasts and short videos that would be shared through the AAU TV channel, social media, professional WhatsApp groups and other communication platforms. We also expect to produce blogs, newspaper stories, and other write ups to widen the dissemination process.

………………………………………..………………………………………………………..END………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Notes to Editors

 About the Association of African Universities

The Association of African Universities is an international non-profit, non-governmental organization created by African Universities to promote cooperation among them on the one hand, and between them and the international academic community on the other. Created in 1967, the AAU is the voice of higher education in Africa. AAU aims to improve the quality of African higher education, and to strengthen its contribution to Africa’s development by supporting the core functions of higher education institutions and facilitating critical reflection and consensus building on issues affecting higher education. It is headquartered in Accra, Ghana, has a membership of more than 400 HEIs and has three regional offices – North Africa Regional Office (NARO) in Cairo, Egypt; East Africa Regional Office (EARO) in Khartoum, Sudan; and North America Office (NAMO) in Washington DC, USA. The Association is the technical implementing arm of the African Union in higher education – with coverage and mandate across the language divide of Africa. We have influence in the francophone, anglophone, lusophone and arabophone regions. The AAU is the coordinating agency of the Higher Education Cluster of the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 16-25) of the African Union Commission (AUC). Through our guidance, our member universities are responsible for implementing the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA 2024) of the AUC.

Website – https://www.aau.org/ |Facebook – Association of African Universities| Twitter -@aau_67 |TV- tv.aau.org | YouTube –  Association of African Universities

For Further Information, Contact:

• Joan Akua Iyoha (jaiyoha@aau.org)
• Isabella Tetteh Ahinakwa (itahinakwa@aau.org)