The Philippine Press Institute (PPI) together with Novartis held a hybrid seminar-workshop for journalists entitled “Anatomy of a Silent Killer: Unblock your Heart, Unfriend your Bad Cholesterol” on Monday.
The event aims to enhance the knowledge of the press in covering health stories in the country. It also gave awareness for their health due to the demand of the industry, and their lifestyle which may put them at risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), the leading cause of death globally and in the Philippines.
“The media can bridge between the clinical experts, and the country by reporting on the latest scientific attempt, world lasting health campaigns, and sharing personal stories of those affected by health disease,” Rolando Estabillo, chairman of the Philippine Press Institute, and publisher of Manila Standard, said.
PPI reflected on the challenges that the news industry faced during the pandemic as it showed the unreadiness of everyone in covering health stories.
“If we admit it, during the COVID pandemic, we really saw the weaknesses in reporting health stories because none of us knew anything about the pandemic. We just accepted whatever the DOH said,” Joyce Panares, Manila Standard managing editor said. Experts from the medical field were also invited to share their knowledge regarding CVD and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) often referred to as “bad cholesterol.”
