To motivate journalists to produce more health governance reporting and improve the quality of reporting, SCS Guinea hosted the country’s first Health Governance Media Week from November 24–December 2, 2019. The project mobilized 98 radio stations, 24 online media outlets, two print outlets, and the national television station (including all of Guinea’s major media organizations) to create media addressing health reform and health governance.

To kick off the week, SCS Guinea participated in a nationally-televised panel that included the director of Guinea-Bissau National Radio and Television, the chairman of the Association Guinéene de la Presse en Ligne (AGUIPEL), and the director of the Rural Radio of Guinea network.

Additional media week activities included:

• the national radio station aired a two-hour show on health governance
• 33 rural radio stations broadcast shows on health reform issues
• 63 private radio stations, members of Union des radios et télévisions libres de Guinée (URTELGUI), broadcast their own programming on health governance
• 26 online and two print outlets published articles on health reform and health governance

On December 4–5, 2019, SCS Guinea organized a peer learning forum for 29 journalists and five government officials from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, and the National Assembly. Participants shared recommendations on how to sustain media coverage of health governance, including trainings for journalists on health issues and health governance and improvements to the Ministry of Health’s website.

SCS Guinea aims to improve citizens’ understanding of and participation in Guinea’s health system reforms to contribute to Guinea’s post-Ebola recovery, strengthen public trust in Guinea’s health sector governance, and improve service delivery.