Improving Rwandans’ overall health is essential to the nation’s ability to build and preserve a robust workforce for socioeconomic growth, and to allow people to live in dignity. By providing pertinent information, the media may empower individuals to make informed decisions and adopt healthier behaviours and attitudes.

Media can be a major source of factual health information, opinion, and analysis and in this way, media plays a central role in fostering development. Several scholars have attested to this fact. Media have the potential to impact knowledge and influence the understanding of health issues by their readers and may also act as advocates for the recipients of news items such as vaccines. For this article, I will be referring to public health, health promotion, and primary healthcare.

Even though many public health issues don’t draw much attention in newspapers, the general public nonetheless finds them to be very significant. Many factors that determine an individual’s health state are under their control, including lifestyle choices, sleep patterns, dietary habits, and use of tobacco and alcohol.

Activities aimed at promoting health and fresh information from newspapers have the potential to alter such behaviours. Other key issues that can easily be discussed and understood can be linked to general perceptions, beliefs, culture, and religion among other things. Media representations of health issues may perpetuate the belief that individuals are largely responsible for their own health outcomes, but we have to understand that other social determinants such as poverty, wealth inequality, level of education, and others also have a role to play.

Traditionally not many health-related articles have been published in local newspapers when compared to areas like politics, education, entertainment, and other areas. Media outlets often prioritise topics that attract more attention and viewership except when it comes to stories about health disasters or other natural disasters with health consequences.

Audience interest plays a significant role, with health issues sometimes receiving less attention from the public, but I believe there may have been a change that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic; when health information became "hotcake”.

The dissemination of health-related content has been transformed by print media’s integration with online and other social media platforms, greatly increasing its audience reach. Health stories now reach a global audience with a variety of demographics through websites, smartphone apps, and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Interactive elements encourage direct interaction and communication, enabling readers to make knowledgeable decisions about their health. The incorporation of multimedia components enhances the efficacy and appeal of the information. The combination of print and digital media offers a good chance to advance health education and awareness.

Sometimes articles related to health issues can be quite polarising because of differences in public opinion. Sometimes what is viewed as "evidence” can be diverse or even contestable, and there may be disagreements on how the message should be interpreted. This may go as far as having divergent views among scientists or experts.

However, disagreements have happened and have long been a feature of scientific methods. In many cases, we usually find that "trust” in health-related messages, or public views around these, are usually linked to whether the public trusts the health system actors, whether they believe they are acting in the public interest, and beliefs about doctors or other health practitioners.

Many interesting studies around the world show people have the most trust in nurses and doctors. There are lower levels of trust in pharmaceutical and health insurers.

As a word of caution, while print media or the Internet provide convenient public access to health information, evidence suggests that searching for health information is challenging for the average internet user, not only due to the volume and variable quality of information that may be retrieved but also due to differences in searching ability and comprehension among people.

Many research studies report that the accuracy of some online or health-related material in the media may not be exactly accurate. These studies further show that a lot of Google search engine data may be incomplete or inconsistent. A lot of YouTube material can also be misleading. Always ensure you have a trusted source or links that send you to trusted online sources.

Using inaccurate or misleading health information for decision-making purposes, without expert advice, could potentially have a serious negative impact on the individual user and public health in general.

The print media offers a window into public issues since it sits at the intersection of public and policy agendas. Consequently, it is an effective instrument for promoting evidence-based primary health systems that are sensitive to the needs of the public and for advocating for the health of citizens.

Dr Vincent Mutabazi is an applied epidemiologist.

X: @VkneeM