Côte d’Ivoire: Building Resilience and “Decolonising” the Health Narrative

Post-pandemic preparedness as a national focus · Media coverage centres on the country’s readiness for future pandemics, including Mpox and Lassa fever rapid response, vaccine equity, and the strength of primary care.
The NCD burden hits families · A dramatic rise in cardiovascular diseases, cancers and diabetes is driving coverage on prevention, early screening, and the heavy financial burden of costly treatments.
Universal coverage and the rural-urban divide · Reporters are pushing for extended social protection and equitable access to quality care, with a sharp focus on bridging the persistent rural-urban healthcare divide.
Journalists shift from relay to advocate · Ivorian health journalism is becoming an active advocacy force—denouncing system failures, exposing infrastructure gaps and demanding accountability rather than simply relaying official statements.
Decolonising the narrative · Experts call to fund local African newsrooms, cite Ivorian and African experts as primary sources, cover local solutions and successful policies, and rely on African media platforms rather than foreign press agencies.

The health and media landscape in Côte d’Ivoire is defined by two powerful, interconnected themes: a determined focus on strengthening health system resilience in a post-pandemic world, and an emphatic call to “decolonise” the global health narrative. This movement seeks to dismantle outdated power dynamics by prioritising local expertise, funding local storytellers, and centering African solutions.

The insights that follow are drawn from the expert perspectives of a coordinator at a national health radio station, a presenter at a national radio station, a journalist at a daily newspaper, and the president of an NGO focusing on health.

Post-pandemic preparedness and the NCD burden

Media coverage in Côte d’Ivoire illuminates a national health agenda focused on future preparedness, chronic diseases, and systemic equity. A primary focus for the media is the country’s preparedness for future pandemics. This includes coverage of rapid response mechanisms for emerging threats such as Mpox and Lassa fever, as well as ongoing debates around vaccine equity and the strength of primary health systems.

There is a dramatic increase in cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and diabetes. Media coverage is centered on prevention, early screening, and the significant challenge of accessing costly treatments, which places a heavy burden on families. Mental health—previously a lower-priority topic—has been pushed to the forefront by a resurgence of highly publicised depression and suicide cases.

Universal health coverage and equity

A recurring theme in media reports is the urgent need to extend social protection and ensure equitable access to quality care for all citizens. This includes a sharp focus on bridging the persistent divide in healthcare access between rural and urban areas.

“When Washington changes policy or priority, this is automatically felt everywhere. […] American decisions often redraw the map of global health priorities. Partners must adapt accordingly, revise budgets, and this is felt in field activities.”

— Coordinator, national health radio station

The lingering impact of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has left a multifaceted and enduring impact on the health system, economy, and public consciousness of Côte d’Ivoire. The pandemic led to significant delays in routine vaccination programmes, increasing the risk of other infectious disease outbreaks. It also severely tested the resilience of supply chains for essential medicines and consumables.

The crisis exacerbated the economic vulnerability of households, directly affecting their ability to afford and access healthcare services. Persistent stress, anxiety, and isolation linked to the pandemic continue to affect the population’s mental well-being, an area that experts note remains under-covered by the media relative to the scale of the need. The pandemic, and the “infodemic” of misinformation that spread across social networks, has fundamentally changed how the public engages with health information.

The media’s evolving role: from relay to advocate

A significant transformation is underway in Ivorian health journalism. Journalists are moving beyond their traditional role as simple relays for information from health authorities to become powerful advocates for social justice and accountability. Media outlets are now actively denouncing failures in the health system, pointing out infrastructure gaps, and highlighting the weakness of technical platforms. Their reporting increasingly calls for concrete actions to improve equitable access to quality care, positioning them as a critical force for change and a voice for the population.

Strategies for media collaboration and authentic representation

To build a relationship of trust, health actors are urged to:

Be transparent and consistently available to journalists, not just in times of crisis.
Simplify technical jargon to make complex health information accessible to the public.
Facilitate easy access to information without imposing excessive bureaucratic protocols.
View journalists as strategic partners in public health, not as inquisitors.

“It is imperative to ‘decolonise’ the narrative of global health. […] National expertise must be prioritised, ensuring that Ivorian and African experts, researchers, innovators are the main and most cited sources […] African stories must reflect the continent’s capacity to act, not only its vulnerability.”

— Presenter and reporter, national radio station

The call to decolonise global health coverage is a central theme, with clear recommendations for action:

Fund local African newsrooms to conduct their own investigations and set their own coverage agendas.
Prioritise and cite Ivorian and African experts, researchers, and innovators as the primary sources in stories about the continent.
Cover local solutions and successful policies, not just problems and vulnerabilities, to show the continent’s capacity to act.
Cite African media platforms as primary sources of information, moving away from a reliance on foreign press agencies.