U.S. Supports Ramnath Goenka Award for HIV/AIDS Reporting

July 16, 2007

NEW DELHI –Journalists Sadhna Mohan and Shekhar Deshmukh today received the first ever “Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards” for HIV/AIDS Reporting for their exceptional contribution to public awareness and understanding of HIV/AIDS issues in India.

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam presented the awards at the annual ceremony celebrating achievement in journalism at the Taj Palace hotel in New Delhi. Announced at last year’s ceremony, the Excellence in HIV/AIDS Reporting Award was started by the United States Agency for International Development and administered by Johns Hopkins University and the Avert Society in collaboration with the Indian Express Group.

The award honors print media that cover a story comprehensively and sensitively while raising consciousness of the HIV/AIDS pandemic affecting millions in India. Ms. Mohan of “AIDS Buzz” magazine was honored for a series of articles in English, one of which covered the story of two HIV positive children in Kerala who fought to attend school. Mr. Deshmukh of “Loksatta” Marathi newspaper received the award for a series of articles in Marathi.

As part of the award, the United States Agency for International Development paid for Mohan and Deshmukh to attend a three-week “Leadership in Strategic Health Communication” workshop at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Centre for Communication Programs in the United States during June 2007.