Radio Nigeria’s correspondent in Kano, Khadijah Aliyu, has been honoured with the 2025 Michel Sidibé Award for Outstanding Health Reporting by the African Media Network for the Promotion of Health and Environment (REMAPSEN).
The award was presented at the Forum of Media Professionals on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) held in Cotonou, Benin Republic, bringing together journalists, health experts, policymakers, and development partners from across Africa.
The Michel Sidibé Awards, presented annually, recognise Africa’s most impactful journalists in the fields of health and environmental reporting, across radio, television, print, and online media.
Other recipients of the 2025 Health Reporting Award include Emefa Atiamoah of Joy Multimedia Group, Ghana; Régis Talikpéti of E47 TV, Togo; and Aboubacar Touré from Guinea.
For the Outstanding Environmental Journalism Award, the winners were Aguibou Coulibaly (ORTB, Mali), Caroline Wété (CRTV, Cameroon), Ngoya Ndiaye (Rewmi Quotidien, Senegal), and Michael Moukouangui (Lettre Verte, Gabon).
Delivering a keynote address, Dr Michel Sidibé,former Executive Director of UNAIDS, who doubles as the former Minister of Health of Mali, and former African Union Special Envoy for the African Medicines Agencyn said the prize symbolises the crucial role of journalism in ending neglect of tropical diseases.
According to him, “The fight against NTDs begins with the courage to name them, to show them, and to refuse to let them remain invisible. For an NTD that makes the front page is an NTD that begins to retreat.”
Dr Sidibé described journalists as strategic allies in public health, stressing that “your pen is a weapon against injustice, your microphone a tool for collective healing, and your camera an act of moral resistance.”
He added that transparency and trust are essential for successful health policies, noting that elimination of diseases begins with public indignation against injustice.
Earlier, REMAPSEN President, Mr Youssouf Bamba, explained that the awardees emerged after a rigorous selection process conducted by an independent panel of experts.
He said recipients were chosen based on their outstanding professional performance and sustained impact in health and environmental reporting.
Mr Bamba also acknowledged development partners including the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, Raoul Follereau Foundation,Speak up Africa ,Gates Foundation and others for their continued support to health and environmental initiatives across Africa.
Notably, Khadijah Aliyu of Radio Nigeria and Emefa Atiamoah of Ghana were the only award recipients from English-speaking African countries in the 2025 edition.