27 global health reporting projects that we can’t wait to see published

Since 2016, the European Journalism Centre (EJC) has been running the grant programme which offers journalists the opportunity to get a reporting grant of 15,000€ (on average) for an in-depth reporting project on the topic of global health, reported from a developing country.

This programme has proven very successful. To date, the Global Health Grant Programme has awarded 29 projects in Germany that led to around 200 publications, raising awareness of the topics across a large spectrum of news media and specialised magazines in Germany. For the 10 French projects awarded last year, more than 50 stories have been published in relevant French media outlets so far.

The programme helped editors realise that global health topics can be exciting and reach a considerable audience, like a story on Fistula which received around 3 million views on Spiegel Online. Journalists felt the reporting advanced their career with new contacts to editors, an enlarged network of fellow grantees, and in some cases with journalism prizes, like the Memento Prize for Neglected Diseases or the Journalism Prize of the German Central Committee to fight Tuberculosis.

For these reasons, we were excited to launch a new round of applications earlier this year. 14 German projects and 13 French projects convinced the juries with their under-reported, yet important topics.

Meet our winners and their fascinating projects:

Germany

Sexual violence against men — by Verena Hölzl
It happens in conflicts all over the world, yet nobody is talking about it: The rape of men.

How to kill a virus? — by Florian Guckelsberger
With the Taliban, the fight to eradicate Polio is about to suffer a serious setback in Afghanistan.

Big Data approach to fight epidemics — by Tobias Dammers
Can AI enable UNICEF field teams to prevent cholera outbreaks in war-torn villages in Yemen?

Malaria 2.0 — turning up the heat — by Nicole Macheroux-Denault
Studies show that a rise in temperature increases the risk of infection for millions of people.

Psychological disorders caused by webcam child sex tourism — by Martina Merten
Webcam Child Sex Tourism (WCST) is a growing crime, causing severe psychological trauma.

Inside the pandemics predict project — Julia Amberger
In the rainforest, scientists are looking for new pandemic threats possibly causing outbreaks.

How cancer challenges developing countries — by Katharina Nickoleit
Seventy per cent of the world’s new cancer cases annually are diagnosed in developing countries.

The snakebite emergency — by Laura Salm-Reifferscheidt
A neglected tropical disease: up to 140,000 people worldwide die from snakebites every year.

The global battle against Ebola — by Fiona Weber-Steinhaus
This project will trace the line of a new vaccination from the first clinical trials to the patients.

How climate change shapes healthcare issues — by Mathias Tertilt
Bangladesh scientists explore the health effects of climate change in soil and water.

Young, pregnant & punished: mothers and girls in Sierra Leone — by Alicia Prager
Young girls and pregnant teens are particularly affected by the health crisis after Ebola.

How to combat Neglected Tropical Diseases — by Sascha Montag
One in six people worldwide is infected with at least one Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD).

Sex education reinvented — by Fabian Weiss
Sexual education, a taboo in many African countries, is being revamped by locals and NGOs.

Hope and hurdles — drugs are not enough to fight MDR TB — by Volkart Wildermuth
Science, social settings and funding interact in unexpected ways in the fight against tuberculosis.

France

Poisoned by the dirty gold — by Marie-Laure Théodule
Workers in gold mines suffer health damage caused by the use of mercury and cyanide.

Traditional medicine, modern medicine, the end of the war? — by Carol Isoux
In LDCs, traditional Chinese medicine might offer an effective and cheap solution for patients.

“Ebola business”: the backlash — by Emmanuel Freudenthal
Corruption leads to violence against health workers stopping them from fighting the virus.

How Africa wants to break the curse of pain — by Laurence Soustras
Palliative care: the paradox of lack of morphine and the abundant smuggling of opiate traffic.

Searching for the lost bacteria — by Cécile Coumau
Researchers collecting stool samples from indigenous people to save their rich microbiota.

Tuberculosis: the scourge of another era ravaging India silently — by Sébastien Farcis
Challenges and promises of bedaquiline, a new treatment recommended by the WHO.

Reducing the “infertility belt” of sub-Saharan Africa — by Christelle Gérand
Africa is most affected by infertility — due to abortions, FGM and lack of treatments.

Noma, the faceless disease — by Stéphany Gardier
A frightening face gangrene in mainly children, noma can be cured and prevented.

Innovative ways for curing mental disorders in a refugee camp — by Guillaume Pajot
Rohingya refugee camps are innovative in the emergency treatment of mental disorders.

Ebola in the DRC: a crisis of confidence — by Mélanie Gouby
Lessons learned from the public crisis of confidence in the international humanitarian system.

Super-bacteria: the silent epidemic — by Lise Barnéoud
India is entering a post-antibiotic era where common infections become deadly again.

More deadly than Ebola, Lassa fever kills victims in Nigeria — by Jenna Le Bras
Under-researched and neglected: Lassa fever kills between 20 to 40% of the victims.

Hepatitis C, the big therapeutic injustice — by Alice Bomboy
A new treatment can cure hepatitis C, but its price makes it inaccessible to millions of patients.

Learn more about the German projects and the French projects on our websites.

Read about the 29 reporting projects which have already been published in Germany, and the 10 projects published in French media outlets so far.

Do you want to receive funding for your reporting project?

Before the end of the year, the EJC will launch two more calls for applications in this global health reporting programme, one for Germany and one for France. Stay tuned not to miss the opportunity — it’s the last one for this programme!

Subscribe to our EJC newsletter and follow us on Twitter @journagrants not to miss the launch.

You can find more information about the EJC journalism grant programmes here.

Further reading

How journalists are overcoming the challenges of global health reporting

Some common mistakes when applying for a journalism grant — and how to avoid them

Cross-border journalism: The successful example of a German-Indian collaboration