PUNCH HealthWise has bagged the Impact Africa Summit 2021 award for excellence in health promotion journalism.
PUNCH HealthWise beat two other contenders, Africa Health – a health magazine based in Uganda and African Health Solution Journalism, based in Kenya to win the award.
The PUNCH HealthWise site started fully in January 2020. It is a project of the PUNCH and was created to generate content for increased public awareness and knowledge of public health in Nigeria as contained in the Sustainable Development Goals 1 to 6.
The IAS Award is an annual recognition of healthcare experts and organisations for their outstanding impact in reforming Africa’s healthcare system.
The 2021 edition of the award, according to IAS, received over 1,000 nominations across categories.
According to the IAS, PUNCH HealthWise bagged the award for its contribution to noteworthy and credible journalism on healthcare.
The award, the IAS stated further, is also in recognition of the contribution of PUNCH HealthWise to the provision of information to stakeholders in healthcare and relevant audience in pharmaceutical development and research.
Receiving the award plaque at the presentation ceremony held at Lagos Oriental Hotel Friday evening, the acting editor, PUNCH Healthwise, Yusuff Moshood, thanked the IAS for the recognition. He dedicated the award to the PUNCH HealthWise team.
Other award winners at the ceremony include the Nigerian Television Authority (Health in your hand) programme, which beat Channels TV’s (Health Matters) and ModernGhana Media Communication Limited’s (Jacquah Health Radio) to emerge as the winner in the category for TV Station/programme recognised for Healthcare Promotion and Dr. Damian Avar, ‘The Real Sabi Doctor’, who bagged the award of excellence in health influence on social media by beating two other contenders, Dr. Kelechi Okoro and Dr. Folakemi Ezenwanne.
Prof. Babatunde Salako, the director-general/CEO of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research bagged a Lifetime Achievement Award at the ceremony.
PUNCH HealthWise is an online health vertical commissioned in January 2020 by PUNCH Media Foundation with funding support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The vertical seeks to improve the quality and quantum of health reportage and issues bordering on the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)1 to 6, thereby increasing public awareness and knowledge about public health and development issues in Nigeria. It is also geared towards improving accountability and transparency in government and relevant stakeholders.
