The Lagos State Unified Media Health Coalition has reiterated its commitment to ensuring that people have easy access to quality mother and child healthcare services.
This renewed commitment was given at meeting organised by the International Society of Media in Public Health, ISMPH, headed by Chief Moji Makanjuola.
Cross section of participants after the meeting in Lagos recently.
The coalition stated that its new focus will include coordinated investigative reporting, tracking of health interventions and stronger monitoring of how maternal and child health programmes are implemented across Lagos.
In his welcome address at the post-alignment meeting in Lagos, ISMPH’s Director of Programmes, Mr. Solomon Dogo, stated that the shift in focus reflects a growing urgency to move from advocacy messaging to measurable accountability outcomes.
“Government is doing so much in terms of providing access to health facilities for Lagosians. But if people do not know where to access the services, that becomes a problem,” he said.
“Fragmented reporting had previously weakened public health communication, leaving critical gaps in awareness about antenatal care, immunisation, and primary healthcare services. It is our belief that going forward, the coalition will be consolidating efforts to ensure health reporting is not only coordinated but also impactful enough to influence behaviour, policy response and service delivery.” Mr. Dogo explained.
The Chairperson of the coalition and President of the Health Writers Association of Nigeria, Mrs Vivian Ihechu, said the initiative is also confronting structural barriers beyond information gaps, including financing constraints and weak health system linkages.
She noted that despite government interventions, many residents remain unaware of available programmes such as the Lagos State health insurance scheme, Ilera Eko.
“Some mothers do not even know these services exist. That is where the media becomes critical. We must amplify the information and also hold government accountable to promises made in the health sector,” she said.
Ihechu added that emergency maternal care remains a critical concern, particularly issues around blood availability and dependence on commercial donors in public hospitals.
The coalition said its scope now spans maternal and child health, immunisation, nutrition, adolescent health, primary healthcare delivery and health financing transparency.
On his part, the President of Lagos State Accountability Mechanism for Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health and Nutrition and the Health Editor of Vanguard Newspapers, Mr Sola Ogundipe, urged stronger investment in health journalism to improve the quality and consistency of reporting on maternal and child health.
He said many health reporters operate under constraints including limited funding, restricted access to data, and rising misinformation pressures from social media platforms.With the coalition firmly in place, health reporting will be better coordinated for sustained scrutiny of health facilities, service delivery gaps and policy implementation failures that continue to put women and children at risk.