For two days, the trainers became trainees, and it was fun. We stepped into the world of data visualization using the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). These population-based surveys provide reliable information on HIV, malaria, gender, family planning, maternal and child health, and nutrition in more than 90 countries.
Abortions are technically illegal in Mozambique. Even though the laws are no longer enforced, medical standards have yet to catch up, especially in rural areas where patients find less sterile, riskier procedures. Now with a new effort to revamp and discard the old national laws, all that is about to change.
This weekend, as many nations prepare to celebrate Mother's Day, Mozambique released the figures from its latest demographic health survey. The figures show a climbing birth rate and -- particularly for women in rural areas -- limited access to maternity care or clean, well-equipped health clinics.
When Knight International Journalism Fellow Mercedes Sayagues arrived at the Savana newsroom in Maputo, Mozambique, in 2010, she found a lone woman reporter covering health and education news, stories that were largely ignored by editors more focused on politics, sports and corruption. “Salane Muchanga was the token woman, and not taken seriously,” recalls Sayagues.
Sayagues went to work, guiding the young reporter in the basics of health journalism.
