Director General of “UNA” stresses the responsibility of the media in promoting health and ensuring easy access to its services
Jeddah (UNA) - The Director General of the Federation of News Agencies of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Mr. Mohammed bin Abdrabuh Al-Yami, stressed that contributing to promoting health and ensuring easy access to its services is a shared responsibility among all sectors, including the media sector with its various traditional and new means and channels.
This came during his participation in the 24th regular session of the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which began its work on Sunday (November 2024, 24) at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Organization in Jeddah.
The session will continue until November 28, with the participation of representatives of the member states and observer states of the organization, in addition to its national institutions concerned with human rights, and experts from relevant international and regional organizations.
This session was devoted to focusing on the topic of “The Right to Health: From an Islamic Perspective and a Human Rights Perspective,” and the discussion was moderated by the Chairman of the Independent Permanent Commission for Human Rights, Ambassador Talal Khaled Saad Al-Mutairi.
In his statement on the role of the media in promoting the right to health, Al-Yami urged the media to be accurate in what they publish about diseases and medical advice, in order to ensure that the public receives accurate information that contributes to improving their health and enhancing the preventive dimension in their behavior.
Al-Yami explained that the media shapes the various behavioral patterns of the masses, including health behavior, and therefore it is required to raise awareness of the actual risks associated with certain behavioral choices, and make them prominent enough to influence the behavior of individuals and improve public health, while at the same time promoting healthy behavioral patterns and giving them an appropriate space in the media content that is published.
Al-Yami stressed that the media’s ability to play its role in promoting public health and accomplishing it in the most complete manner requires qualifying media professionals, raising their capabilities, and providing them with the knowledge and skills necessary to cover health-related topics with accurate and professional coverage.
In this regard, Al-Yami called for raising the level of cooperation between health and media institutions to exchange expertise and knowledge, while establishing a coordination framework to provide joint training programs and organize media campaigns aimed at promoting public health.
He also urged the enactment of legislation to monitor and regulate what is published in traditional and new media outlets related to health, and to combat rumours and media misinformation, while establishing ethical charters to which the media adheres in their coverage of health issues, in a way that enhances commitment to the principles of credibility and public responsibility towards the health of society and its individuals.
Al-Yami stressed the Union’s readiness to cooperate in implementing any initiatives related to enhancing the role of the media in protecting the right to health in the geography of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, based on the tasks and responsibilities assigned to the Union, as one of the main bodies of the organization in the field of media and communication.