Theory, Practice, and Guidelines for Communicating Health and Pandemics in Africa

This book provides the theoretical and historical context of the practice, guidelines, and tools for covering health, pandemics, sanitation, education, and development in Africa. It will appeal to public health-based communicators in public health and advocacy degree programs, media students, citizen journalists, and teachers of health/pandemics, development, and sanitation communication/journalism. In addition, the book will assist Ministries of Communication, international development agencies interested in working with journalists in matters of health, and sanitation, and non-governmental health practitioners like Doctors without Borders.

Emmanuel K. Ngwainmbi, PhD, is a Distinguished Professor of International Communication who has lectured in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, and the United States. He has authored 22 books and published numerous articles in journals, newspapers, and encyclopedias. He has edited four volumes, including Media in the Global Context and Dismantling Cultural Borders, and is the co-author of Fulton Sheen as a Modern Humanist and co-editor of Health Management Strategy, Communication, and Development: Challenges and Solutions in Developing Countries.

Levi Zeleza Manda, PhD, is an international development communication expert and media education consultant who has worked in several African and European countries. He has singularly and jointly published widely in the areas of journalism, communication, media studies, social accountability, and education. He is the author of Chipateni and Other Unsung Songs, an anthology of short stories.

"This sweeping view of communication in the context of COVID-19 on the African continent provides valuable insights into such key areas as managing the infodemic, and the role of the news media. There is a lot to be learned from the scholarly work in this book."

Elizabeth Serlemitsos Project Director, Breakthrough ACTION, Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

"This book is a necessary one for communication scholars interested in how crises affect communication practitioners, scholars, and people in Africa. The pandemic had a powerful impact, and Ngwainmbi and his collaborators have brought to life the various aspects of this challenge. Teachers of health communication will definitely love this book."

Professor Molefi Kete Asante Professor at the Department of Africology, Temple University, Philadelphia Author of The History of Africa

"This book is an excellent contribution to our understanding of one of the key public health challenges facing Africa — the challenge of effective communication through the news media. The wide-ranging chapters go deeply into the quality of health news on the African continent, providing important conceptual insights and practical advice for journalists, public health professionals, and communication scholars."

Professor Daniel C. Hallin Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Distinguished Professor of the Graduate Division, Department of Communication, University of California, San Diego

"This is interesting book devoted to investigating media systems in an important part of the world that is often neglected in “legacy” media studies."

Paolo Mancini Professor of Communication, Dipartimento di di Scienze Politiche, Università di Perugia, Italy

Raheemat Adeniran

Gbensuglo Alidu Bukari

Levi Zeleza Manda

Lesiba Peter Mashishi

Lucky Mawasha

Washington Mushore

Bhenkinkosi Jakobe Ncube

Emmanuel K. Ngwainmbi

John C. Pollock

Ian Peter Saunderson

Ganiyat Tijani-Adenre