Al Jazeera's bereaved Gaza Bureau chief chosen as Kerala Media Academy's 'Mediaperson of the Year'
Kochi, Feb 3: Wael Al-Dahdouh, the Gaza Bureau Chief of Al Jazeera news channel, who continued to report from the war-torn enclave despite losing his wife, two children and a grandchild to Israeli bombing, has been selected for the Kerala Media Academy's 'Mediaperson of the year' award.
The award comprises Rs one lakh, a citation and a sculpture, and will be presented by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, KMA said in a release today.
KMA chairman R S Babu said that Dahdouh, who is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Qatar, termed the award from Kerala an invaluable honour, according to the release.
Dahdouh was selected following the recommendations of an association of investigative journalists and a committee of editors of media magazines, it said.
The Palestinian journalist's wife, two children and a grandchild died in the bombing of Gaza by Israel. His cameraman too was killed in an Israeli missile attack.
Since the Hamas group's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, retaliatory action by the Israeli Defence Forces have killed over 27,000 Palestinian civilians in Gaza, several thousand among them being children below the age of 5.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
