Lend your ear: New radio service takes healthcare to the people

LUMHS has launched a community health FM that will be heard in Hyderabad, Jamshoro

HYDERABAD: With the deep aversion to seeking medical help in society, a medical university has taken the initiative to reach out to the residents of Hyderabad and Jamshoro districts at their homes, offices, fields and vehicles.

Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairperson Dr Mukhtar Ahmed inaugurated the LUMHS Community Health FM Radio service at the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro, on Sunday. “This effort will greatly help in raising general health awareness among people,” remarked Dr Ahmed.

Although the formal launch was done with a 50 watt transmitter, the range of which is limited to the varsity’s vicinity, the broadcast will be heard in the two districts by next month.

“We have requested approval for a one kilowatt transmitter but we are very likely to get the licence for a 500 watt transmitter [through the HEC from the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority] within two weeks,” Prof Dr Aneela Attaur Rehman, the dean of the faculty of community health sciences, told The Express Tribune. “I have been working for two years on this project and now we are finally close to realising Sindh’s first non-commercial radio transmission aimed at public health awareness.”

Dr Rehman asserted that her initiative was not going to be a “campus radio”, adding that with the 500 watt device, the channel would be heard up to 25 to 30 kilometres away.

The varsity will run the transmission for eight hours daily. The broadcast will feature health education - covering physical, social, emotional, intellectual and spiritual health - mother and child healthcare programmes, a health detective discussing disease symptoms, precautions and treatment, a health clinic programme with experts taking questions, a doctors’ roundtable, information on physical exercise and healthy lifestyles and live coverage of conferences and seminars at LUMHS.

“We will specifically focus on educating people about infectious and waterborne diseases, preventive vaccinations for measles and polio, diabetes, hypertension and non-communicable diseases,” Dr Rehman explained. “The people don’t even know that every fourth or fifth person is suffering from renal failure that can easily be avoided.”

She said that the programmes would avoid medical jargon in order to simplify the transfer of knowledge and awareness, adding that they would also play songs at regular intervals to keep the listeners interested.

The varsity is hiring anchors with experience from commercial FM radios. LUMHS students will also host the shows.