Champion increased funding to reduce TB burden in Anambra – Group urges media, CSOs

Chinedum Treasure

Gender Perspective and Social Development Centre (GPSDC) has urged Civil society advocates and media practitioners to contribute their quota towards reducing the burden of tuberculosis in Anambra State.

Executive Director, Eucharia Anekwe made the call in Awka, at a one day capacity building training for Civil Society Organizations and the media on enhancing advocacy strategies for TB funding, which was held under the Fund TB project anchored by Policy Alert in partnership with the Palladium Group, under the Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement (SCALE) project, funded by USAID.

She said the call has become necessary following growing donor fatigue and the current rating of the state as number in terms of TB burden in the south east region.

“The Media must be deliberate towards getting the attention of the state government to increase budgetary allocation and releases for TB programme,” he said.

Earlier, Program Manager of the organization, Oge Ozoemena said the project was targeted at enhancing and sustaining domestic investment and bridge the substantial 70 percent funding gap required to manage tuberculosis interventions in our focal states.

“Your presence here underscores the importance of our collective mission and the pivotal role you play in advancing TB interventions in our communities.

“I’m confident that this workshop will equip us with the tools and knowledge necessary to make a lasting impact. Together, we can enhance our advocacy efforts, foster greater engagement, and ultimately bridge the funding gap to manage TB effectively,” Ozoemena said.

In a paper presentation, an investigative journalist Dr Ifeanyi Obiefuna, challenged the CSOs and media professionals to be alive to their responsibilities.

He argued that without a good understanding of TB related budgets, policies and laws, it will be difficult to carry out successful interventions and media reporting.

“When you get the state budgets, one of the things you can do to determine the level of TB funding is to see if allocations are increasing or decreasing, what are factors driving the changes, impacts of the trend on TB intervention as well as success and challenges,” he added.

State TB Network coordinator, Ify Unachukwu, while sharing many tips on how to carry out effective advocacy for improved TB funding in the state stressed the principles of effective community.

She said, “Ensure your message is clear and understandable, be consistent with the message and back your message up with reliable data to earn credibility.

“Above all, present your advocacy brief in a humanized manner which evokes emotions and makes it easy for your audience to relate with them.

“Don’t also forget to use before and after statistics and visualizations to show the decrease in TB and the increase in treatment success rates. This will greatly in driving home your message.”

The event afforded participants the opportunity to interact and share insights on the health sector of the state especially the TB intervention with a resolve to work assiduously together to achieve a rise in domestic funding for the infectious disease.

The CSO activists and media practitioners also drafted action plan and strategies for the engagements during the six-month long Fund TB campaign.

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