The bootcamp aims to improve collaborations between statisticians and journalists with the view to improving communication and interpretation of health data statistics. It is particularly vital to communicate effectively on health data so that citizens can make informed decisions at the individual, community and societal levels.
There is an important link between publicly accessible, easily understandable health data and positive societal responses to public health interventions. Effective health data communication therefore presupposes both statistical literacy among journalists and an open channel of communication between them and national statistical offices (NSOs). Without statistical literacy and open communication, journalism may be impoverished by lack of data and evidence, and statistics may be unused, misused, overlooked or misrepresented.
The health data communications bootcamp was attended by both public and private media journalists, health statisticians, researchers, communications practitioners, monitoring and evaluation experts from the National Statistical System of Botswana as well as some public relations officials of UN agencies in the country.
*Contributed by Lillian Mogami, Manager–Communication, Documentation & Dissemination, Statistics Botswana
