MEDIA WORKSHOP

A media workshop on “The Safe Motherhood Initiative in Nankana” was held on Thursday, 04 October 2007 at the premises of JSCD, Lahore. This workshop was organized by Jahandad Society for Community Development (JSCD) in collaboration with UNICEF. The focus was to introduce and gain support for the “Punjab Safe Motherhood Initiative Project (PSMIP)” of the government of Punjab in which UNICEF and JSCD are both partners. The aspiration of the PSMIP is to acheive the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goal 5 that aims to reduce maternal mortality by ¾ by the year 2015.
The meeting started with tilawat by Mr. Hussain Jafri, after which Dr Yasmin briefly introduced the workshop. Mr. Jafri gave an update on the Sheikhupura project; he outlined the improvement in the services offered at various centers in Sheikhupura and the resultant increase in utilization of these services by the women of the area. Dr. Yasmin Raashid explained the upcoming Nankana project, aided by a presentation by Dr. Alia Ali. She explained how the success of the Sheikhupura project had prompted the Government of Punjab to start similar endeavours in Nankana under the aegis of Fatima Jinnah Medical College / Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and Chakwal under similar patronage of the Rawalpindi Medical College / Civil Hospital Rawalpindi. Audience included representatives from all major Daily newspapers. The media representatives and the JSCD representatives had an interactive discussion about maternal health and the Nankana project. Interesting observations, questions and comments were tabled on the state of women’s health and role in society, maternal health, Infant mortality & morbidity and the influence of maternal mortality on infant mortality & morbidity statistics. Further discussion centered around the role that media can play in awareness and effectiveness of the project on maternal health in Nankana. The media representatives were informed that they will be invited to visit the project area soon.