A Professor of Mass Communications at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Henrietta Chidinma Onwubere, has called for a stronger and more strategic media role in promoting and protecting maternal and child health rights across Nigeria.

Onwubere made the call on Thursday in Abuja while delivering the university’s 42nd Inaugural Lecture, on the theme, ‘Bridging the Airwaves and Lifelines: Broadcasting, Healthcare Journalism and the Struggle for Maternal and Child Health Rights in Nigeria’ at the NOUN headquarters.

She said broadcasting must move beyond entertainment and routine news reporting to become a powerful instrument for public education, advocacy and accountability, particularly on issues affecting the health and well-being of women and children.

According to her, access to healthcare goes beyond the availability of hospitals, medical facilities and health workers, but ensures that citizens have access to accurate, timely and easily understandable information about their health and healthcare rights.

Onwubere therefore advocated increased broadcasting in local languages, stronger collaboration between media organisations and health institutions and more empathetic and people-centred health reporting.

She said such measures would help citizens to understand their healthcare rights and empower them to demand accountability from the relevant authorities.

The professor also drew attention to the growing threat of misinformation on digital platforms and urged journalists and communication students to strengthen their fact-checking and verification skills in order to promote accurate and responsible health communication.

While giving a recommendation, she called on the government and other stakeholders to invest in media capacity-building, provide greater support for healthcare journalism and place the interests of women and children at the centre of communication strategies and policy interventions.

The university don further appealed to the university management to strengthen practical training facilities for Mass Communications students while stressing that hands-on experience was essential to delivering quality professional education and meeting the standards prescribed by the National Universities Commission (NUC).

NOUN VC, Professor Uduma Oji Uduma, represented by his deputy on administration, Professor Shehu Usman Adamu, described inaugural lectures as important platforms through which scholars share research findings and propose solutions to societal challenges.

He commended Onwubere for drawing on her multidisciplinary background in nursing, education, law and Mass Communications to examine the critical issue of maternal and child health.