National Media Literacy Mission required to educate about fake health news says MCU's Prof KG Suresh: PRmoment Health Comms Awards 2023

The PRmoment India Health Comms Awards 2023 presented by Adfactors PR took place on the 21st of July. The Awards kicked off with the first awards of the evening to Prof (Dr) KG Suresh, vice chancellor, Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism & Communication. He was awarded for his outstanding contribution to health communications.

During his time as DG of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Prof Suresh introduced the 'Critical Appraisal Skills Programme' for public health communication along with Oxford University, Thomson Reuters Foundation and UNICEF. He has also been a member of WHO's Pulse Polio communication campaign in India.

Media Literacy is a priority for health communications: Prof KG Suresh, VC, MCU 

Outlining the serious challenge of fake news in credible health communications, Prof Suresh said, " A  lot of misinformation is being dished out, a lot of propaganda is being dished out. And a majority of our people, a large number of our people are certainly not aware of the technology, you know, they are not aware of animation, virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, or deep fakes.

So I think that it's very important that they cannot, they can get carried away by morphed pictures, distorted audio and manipulated videos. So it's very important we educate the masses. For that, a national media literacy mission is required. And media literacy needs to be incorporated into our media curriculum. Also in the curriculum of schools. That's really important."

Watch the full interview

Congratulations to all the incredible individuals who made it to the prestigious PRmoment Health Comms Awards 2023 shortlist! A big round of applause to each and every one of you who emerged as winners.

Read the full list of winners.

We want to express our gratitude to our sponsors who have provided invaluable support. A special shoutout goes to our title sponsor, Adfactors PR, for their unwavering commitment to healthcare communications.

We would also like to health PR specialist firm SPAG Finn Partners, our gold sponsor, and to Hill + Knowlton Strategies, Avian WE, and GCI Health, our silver sponsors, for their contributions.

And let's not forget our knowledge partner, HEAL Foundation, for their invaluable insights and expertise.

Watch the winning campaigns here

Also check out the winners and their comments on the win 

Thanks to all our sponsors