 |
| John Akuroh |
Seasoned CRTV
journalist John Mbah Akuroh has done Cameroon proud, following his recent
selection as one of just two Africans to win the International Center for
Journalists (ICFJ) 2015 Global Health Reporting contest that was launched
earlier this year and which focused on the complex challenges facing
communities and health-care providers across the world.
Dubbed “Safety: An SMS Away”,
the report which enabled Mbah Akuroh to triumph in this contest is striking in
being both innovative and ingenious, making use of relatively simple and
affordable technology to address a grave health concern. In it, he introduces a
mobile phone app that pregnant women in distress can use to alert healthcare
workers – allowing them to send a text message to doctors and at the same time,
showing ambulance drivers the patient’s location via a Google earth map.
Ultimately, this innovation drastically cuts the time required for medics to
reach women in distress to start rescue operations and as such, its life-saving
potential cannot be overstated. Along
with John Mbah Akuroh were five other winners; Maimouna Gueye from Senegal,
Maria Clara Vieira from Brazil, Shengke Gao from China, Mini P. Thomas from
India and Olga Efimkina from Russia. The scale of his achievement is all the
more remarkable when one bears in mind that he was selected as just one of six
winners out of a pool of more than 150 journalists who submitted stories for
the contest from around the world. The six winners will embark on a 10-day
study tour of the United States in November, in the course of which they will
meet leading global health experts in Washington DC, Atlanta and New York. They
will also be honoured with an Awards Dinner featuring a discussion on emerging
health issues and each winner will receive a 1000-dollar cash prize.
Outstanding as this
accomplishment no doubt is, it would hardly have come as a major surprise to
those familiar with Mbah Akuroh who have witnessed similar manifestations of
the exceptional abilities he possesses in abundance. while “Safety: An SMS
Away” is unquestionably his most high profile exploit so far, in 17 years of
service at the foremost media organ of the country, he has won numerous media
contests with some of the most notable being documentaries like “Fitchuk: The
Wine of Life”, “The Mysteries of Tegoum” and “Red Diamond” which resonated with
the public and won him many accolades. On a related note, he is also the
publisher of Timescape Magazine and Editorial Adviser at The Times Journal,
arguably the most influential Anglophone newspaper in Cameroon which has won
plaudits and adherents for excellence in news production. Ultimately, the ICFJ
award is just another feather in the cap of a young and dynamic trailblazer who
is demonstrating that with talent and ambition, with dedication and hard work,
we can surmount all challenges and emerge triumphant.
No comments:
Post a Comment