Malawi: “Pediatric and Adolescent HIV Journalist of the Year” Sweeps at the 2016 MISA Awards

This year’s winner of “Best Pediatric and Adolescent HIV Journalist” (in print) at the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Malawi Chapter Awards, assisted in spreading awareness of pediatric HIV in more ways than one. 

Albert Sharra’s piece for The Nation, called Boys Living Dangerously, took home not only the award for his own category, but succeeded in winning “Best Overall Print” out of 218 entries. Competition was strong at this year’s awards, a part of Malawi’s May 7th celebration of World Press Freedom Day, with submissions in 17 categories from “Human Rights” to “Investigative Journalism”. The fact that Sharra’s piece overtook journalists writing in seemingly more attention grabbing spheres is a significant accomplishment towards using media to support reporting on the HIV epidemic in Malawi. 

“It gives us a rare insight into the risky lives of teenagers and young people – who today are the only group where new HIV infections are increasing. Stories that take people into ‘a-day-in-the-life-of’, such as this one help more to accurately define the problem [of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and other global health issues] and consequently help in the design of more effective targeted responses,” said Eric Kilongi, Associate Director, Media & Communications, EGPAF Africa., when speaking on Sharra’s piece. 

EGPAF partners with MISA to support the “Pediatric and Adolescent HIV” category as a way to inspire journalists to concentrate on important topics such as pediatric HIV. 

The winner of “Best Pediatric and Adolescent HIV Journalist” of the electronic or digital submissions was Rachel Mhango with her documentary focusing on early infant diagnosis (EID).  In the documentary, Mhango follows mothers in Malawi’s Mangochi District as they speak on their personal experiences with EID. The piece is presented in Chichewa, Malawi’s national language, and is intended to inform the audience on EID technology as well as to discourage any fear families may have in seeking EID services. 

Both award recipients are encouraging examples of news media being used to foster open dialogue about HIV/AIDS and challenge stigmas that arise from lack of education about the epidemic.

In total the “Best Pediatric and Adolescent HIV Journalist” category received 17 submissions by 11 journalists. EGPAF is confident that these submission numbers and journalistic work regarding the epidemic will continue to rise as Malawi works towards creating a generation free of HIV.