Readers perspectives: Health Interactive columnn @12 years

Balarabe Hassan and co @Balarabe and co; about 25 readers have sent emails asking this question and it is good to respond to it. The launching is part of celebrating the 12th year anniversary of Health Interactive. While writing a weekly column for 12 years, I observed a huge gap in reporting health in Nigeria […]

Balarabe Hassan and co

@Balarabe and co; about 25 readers have sent emails asking this question and it is good to respond to it. The launching is part of celebrating the 12th year anniversary of Health Interactive. While writing a weekly column for 12 years, I observed a huge gap in reporting health in Nigeria and I equally understand the challenges within the media houses to position health news and reports above other sectors. The print media are privately owned and not charity organisations, so the decisions to prioritise stories depend on many factors which I don’t need to dwell on here.
So, I intervened by creating a small platform in order to widen the horizon of health reportage and also encourage many professionals to write opinions. It is the 1st online health newspaper in Nigeria but runs as a non profit initiative to avoid any form of competition.  It aims to raise visibility and places health agenda on the front burner and at the door steps of policy makers, politicians, development partners and the society in general. The relationship is simple; my work as a weekly health columnist in Daily Trust provided the impetus to create this platform and because I wrote a health column for a very long time aided by my medical background to interpret complex health evidence and turn them into health stories, as well as being part of so many health events in Nigeria, Africa and Global. It provides the unique opportunity to support this new platform. My twin column in Daily Trust will continue and for any of my articles that I feature in Health Reporters, Daily Trust will publish it first and it will be credited as the source.

Who is Aminu Magashi? Can you tell your readers who Aminu is? You have been a weekly health columnist for 12 years and now you are the publisher of the online health newspaper in Nigeria ‘Health Reporters’. Do you sleep at all?
Dr Eunice L

@Dr Eunice.  You made me laugh, yes I sleep well every day, as that has been my strength over the years. What I don’t enjoy is holidays and leaves. I work throughout the year. I graduated from the University of Maiduguri in 2001 with an MBBS and obtained a Post Graduate Diploma and MSc Public Health from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2006/7.  I am currently working in a DFID funded health project in Nigeria ‘Evidence for Action in Maternal and Child Health (E4A)’ as its National Coordinator.  I marked my 41st birthday on the 17th October with the launch of Health Reporters. I have been married for about 13 years now and blessed with 2 kids (11 and 9 years old).  I was involved in the establishment of a network ‘Africa Health Budget Advocacy Network’ during the June 2014 WHO/PMNCH forum in Johannesburg and serves as its coordinator. You can call me ‘nomadic’ as I travel a lot.

It is rumoured that you are using your weekly health column as one of the most influential health voices in Nigeria to amass wealth. What is your take on this?
Minat K

@Minat – There is no iota of truth in this rumour. There has never been a time in the course of my work that someone or some agency has determined what should be published or not. Of course people from time to time share useful documents with me or raise an issue of interest, but the decision to write on any topic squarely lies with me, and God willing it will remain so. It is expected that when someone writes a column, weekly, for 12 years ‘come sun come rain’, many people will notice such contribution and may extend invitation to some events or extend friendship. However the primary intention of this work is to advocate for better quality health care and reduction of preventable deaths and illnesses. So to answer your question, NO, there is no wealth in this work and no intention to amass wealth.